Beyond Gods and Demons
by GoofBall14
Summary: A hero who thought she had paid the ultimate price for victory over a monster awakens in a new world on the brink of falling into chaos. Here she meets new allies, one of which she finds she is somehow bound to because of a strange mark on both of their hands.
1. Chapter 1: Prophecy's End

**Author's Note: Howdy and welcome everyone to my first story! This is big first for me as well as a major leap of faith, so I ask everyone to please be constructive in your reviews, as I wish to deliver as great of an experience as possible to you the reader.**

**Also, I want to give a VERY special thanks to my awesome beta, loraine95, who inspired me to finally take the first step on what I hope to be an amazing journey. Please read her story, Amalgamation. It's an amazing Me/DA crossover and a ****definite must-read!**

** Disclaimer: I do not own TES: Skyrim or Dragon Age: Inquisition. They are the property of Bethesda and EA respectively. Original content, however, is mine. **

**So, without further ado, let the story begin!**

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Chapter 1: Prophecy's End

The air around her seemed still around her as she made her way across the great whalebone bridge. Its frigidness was also strangely absent, as if the very air had left in anticipation of what was to come. The Dragonborn paid it no mind as she and her three companions from Shor's hall, the original tongues who had fought Alduin in ancient times, rushed out onto the field, right at the edge of the fog-like soul snare that covered Sovengarde.

As the heroes formed a line at the fog's edge, she tightened the grip on her sword, readying herself for the battle to come. _Ironic, _she thought, _Alduin saved my life at Helgen and now here I am about to kill him._ She didn't feel regret at all about what she was doing, however. Alduin was a remorseless monster, a threat to not just Skyrim, but all of Tamriel. And as the Dragonborn, it was her duty to oppose and strike down the power-hungry fiend. Destiny, she mused, had a very interesting sense of humor.

The voice of Gormlaith, one of the Tongues, brought the Dragonborn out of her reflective thoughts and back to the battle at hand. "Clear Skies! Combine our shouts!" At once, the Dragonborn shouted, with the full force of her Thu'um, into the fog "_Lok! Vah! Koor!_" Her companions followed suite and the fog was virtually eradicated by the power of the four Clear Skies shouts. Or so they thought. From somewhere beyond their sight, the terrible, deep voice of Alduin rang out in defiance with the words "_Ven! Mul! Riik!" _Instantly, the fog returned, engulfing the verdant hills of Sovengarde.

The Dragonborn glared deep into the fog, confident that the firstborn of Akotash could sense her gaze. _You claim to be a God, yet hide behind a petty wall of mist and fog_, she thought, almost willing her insult into the black dragon's twisted mind. _You WILL die this day, World-Eater. One way or another._

"Again," Gormlaith shouted to the group. As before, the heroes' shouts's rang out into the field, dispelling the ensnaring fog. For a moment, it seemed it had worked for good this time. But Alduin's voice rang out and, with the same shout as before, restored the fog to the field.

Infuriated, the Dragonborn shouted into the fog, "Enough of this game, Alduin! Come out from your fog and fight us like a true dovah! Or are you finally ready to admit you're a coward?"

Her challenge was met with dark laughter from the field.

"Such a petty challenge from such a petty mortal. If you are truly so unafraid of me, then come into my snare, Dovahkiin. I will gladly give you the _dinok_ you so eagerly desire."

At that, the Dragonborn bristled. A snarl formed on her face and, for a moment, was actually half tempted to storm into the fog right then and there to face her nemesis, reason be damned. Only her better judgment, and maybe Feldir's strong arm, prevented her from literally marching to her certain death.

"Calm yourself, Dragonborn. He fears your strength and seeks to do with words what he has failed to achieve in battle."

Even though he was but a spirit, the Dragonborn could feel a deep sense of wisdom and strength in Feldir's words as well as his eyes, which had a sobering effect strong enough to convince her to remain where she was. Though far from calm, the red mist that briefly clouded her vision slowly faded away. The Dragonborn allowed her face to relax some, nodding toward Feldir in agreement. He was right, the only way to bring Alduin to battle would be to force him from his shroud. Only then could he be slain.

As if to reinforce her thoughts, Feldir looked to the others and said, "We can shatter his power if we Shout together!"

Once more, the four heroes unleashed the Clear Skies shout upon the fog. As before, the fog was pushed back to the point of eradication. But Alduin's defiance remained firm as his voice rang out once more, "_Ven! Mul! Riik!_" This time, the Dragonborn caught something in Alduin's Voice, something so noticeable it caused her ignore something Hakon said: a strain. The World-Eater's strength was actually failing, which meant he wouldn't be able to maintain the fog for much longer. It did actually make sense, though. Alduin had not had sufficient time to recover from his battle with the Dragonborn atop the Throat of the World, and was not at his full strength. A predatory grin formed on the Dragonborn's face in anticipation of what was to come. _You won't be able to hide behind that shroud much longer, worm. And then, you will have nowhere to run._

She regained her sense of awareness in time to hear Gormlaith echo her thoughts. "Stand fast! His strength is failing! Once more, and his might will be broken!"

"She's right," the Dragonborn called out to the group. "You could hear it in his Voice. He's barely able to maintain the fog! We cannot falter now!"

The others nodded in agreement, confirming that they too had heard the weakness in Alduin's Voice. Then, turning their attention to the task at hand, the four heroes shouted with all their might, "_Lok! Vah! Koor!_" This time, the fog was completely eradicated, laying bare the open fields and hills of Sovengarde. The Dragonborn barely had time to observe the fogless scenery when she heard the furious roar of the World-Eater above, his massive, black-scaled form easily recognized against the multi-colored sky of Sovengarde.

"Dragonrend! Bring him down," the Dragonborn cried out to the Tounges as Alduin made a pass overhead. As one, they shouted at the World-Eater, "_Joor! Zah! Frul!_" The combined power of all four shouts slammed into Alduin like an avalanche, nearly causing his immediate "landing," to turn into a crash. As he began to pick himself up, the heroes charged at the black dragon while encircling him at the same time. Hakon and the Dragonborn attacked Alduin from the front, while Feldir and Gormlaith attacked him from the left and right flanks respectively.

But the World-Eater would not be bested easily. As Hakon and the Dragonborn rushed directly at him, he shouted, "_Yol! Toor! Shul!_" A powerful stream of fire raced toward the two warriors as they jumped out of the way, having heard the beginning of the Fire Breath shout coming, both warriors feeling the residual heat in the air from the attack. Feldir and Gormlaith, on the other hand, had closed in successfully and began to slash at Alduin's flanks with their swords. Noticing this, the World-Eater turned his attention from incinerating his frontal foes to swiping at his two flanking opponents with his wings and his mace-like tail. Seeing this opening, Hakon resumed his charge while the Dragonborn hung back.

While Hakon closed in with his battle-axe to strike at Alduin's neck, the Dragonborn had decided on a new strategy, one that had served her well in past battles with dragons. Sheathing her sword, she gathered a sphere of dark purple energy in her left hand and focused her magika on the weapon she desired, a weapon found only in Oblivion. In a quick flash of purple light, her bound bow materialized in her left hand and a quiver full of bound arrows on her back. While normally she would summon a pair of Storm Atronachs to strike at dragons from afar, Daedra could not set foot in Atherius, bound or not, due to the divine pact made at the creation of the universe. Bound weapons, however, did not fall under this category and the bound bow had served the Dragonborn well in her travels.

Nocking an arrow she had drawn from her quiver, the Dragonborn began to unleash arrow after arrow into Alduin's body, each one of the powerful arrows flying true into either the World-Eater's lower neck or back. While she no novice in terms of sword combat, Vilkus calling her a veritable sword master confirmed that, she recognized the strategic opportunity the battle provided: while the Tongues engaged Alduin in melee, she could snipe him from afar with her bound bow without fear of distraction.

As she drew her bow back once more, she saw Alduin lash out violently against all three of the Tongues simultaneously, sending them flying away like ragdolls. While Feldir and Gormlaith were thrown back into the open field, Hakon slammed into a nearby rock edifice, knocking his axe from his hands. Seeing his prey vulnerable, Alduin lumbered toward the dazed hero, eager to devour his ethereal essence to rejuvenate his power. Seeing this unfold, the Dragonborn began to sprint toward the World-Eater to save her comrade-in-arms, dissipating her bow and drawing her sword as she crossed the field.

As the closed in on Alduin, she shouted "_Fus! Ro! Dah!_" The raw power of Unrelenting Force slammed into Alduin's right flank, stunning the black dragon long enough for her to slash the corner of his jaw bone with her sword, further disorienting him. It bought her enough time to grab Alduin's horns and pull herself onto the dragon's back, and position herself to deliver the final, fatal blow through Alduin's skull._ At long last, Skyrim and all of Tamriel will be free from your evil_, she thought, girding herself with righteous determination as she prepared to raise her sword in preparation to deliver the final blow.

However, the Dragonborn had underestimated Alduin's ability to recover from the rapid succession of stunning attacks he had received. With a powerful thrust of his wings, Alduin began to once more take to the skies of Sovengarde. Caught off guard, the Dragonborn lost her balance and stumbled backwards, nearly falling off the World-Eater's back. Fortunately, she was able to grab the frame of Alduin's left wing and tightened her grip with all her strength as the black dragon began to soar across the skies.

"You'll not be rid of me that easily, Alduin! You're end is at hand," she cried out over the rushing wind in her face as she dug her sword into Alduin's back to stabilize herself.

"_Dur mey_! Does your _pahlok _know no bounds? I will break you with the very winds of the heavens!"

And with that, Alduin pulled a sharp turn straight into the air, determined to use the sheer force of gravity to shake the Dragonborn from his back. But despite his wings being pulled back, the Dragonborn held firm, shutting her eyes and burrowing her face as much as possible into her shoulder to stave off the rush of the wind. Then the World-Eater, dove down while barrel rolling at an alarming speed. The Dragonborn could feel her grip slipping on both the wing and her sword. _This ends now,_ she decided. And with that, she pulled her sword out from Alduin's back and stabbed it into the wing tissue right where it connected to Alduin's body and began to cut down and back, severing most of the wing from the dragon's body. Alduin roared in pain as he tried to pull up, a futile attempt to delay the inevitable crash back to ground although he was able to level himself out before hitting the earth face-first. The Dragonborn flew off of Alduin's back and did what could mount to a cross between a summersault and a barrel role, each hit on the ground worse than the last.

Her head felt like it had been split open by an axe. Her vision was disoriented and her ears rang without end. Every part of her body screamed in pain as she tried to move. She confirmed this when she tried to mover her arm to push herself up. A pang of fear shot through her; her unexpected summersault may have broken several, if not all, of the bones in her body. _No, not now! _As if to confirm her fears, her vision began to clear and she could see Alduin starting to pull himself up from the dirt, albeit he seemed to be struggling as well, and begin searching for his prey.

Summoning all her will, she pushed the excruciating pain from her mind and summoned a familiar sensation in her left hand. Her left hand now held a brilliant golden glow that, with a quick clenching and opening of her hand, encompasses her entire body. The soothing, healing energies from the Fast Healing spell, while not healing her entirely, healed enough of her wounds to allow her to finally pick herself up.

Immediately upon standing up, the Dragonborn realized she was only a few yards away from the edge of the cliff, the deep abyss of Atherius lying below. She briefly thanked the Divines that she hadn't fallen off the ledge. As her near-death realization subsided, she felt the familiar weight in her right hand and saw that her sword was still firmly in her grip. As a passing thought, she reached behind the small of her back and was relieved to find her other sword, Dawnbreaker, still in its tightly fastened leather sheath.

By this time, Alduin had finally spotted the Dragonborn, his dark, red eyes filled with rage and vengeance. As he attempted to lumber toward the Dragonborn, she noticed the World-Eater was leaning heavily on his right wing, semi-dragging his now crippled left wing arm across the ground. Steeling herself, she began to advance on the crippled beast as well, bracing herself to face her nemesis in single combat one last time.

"_Zu'u fen ni mah. Zu'u nis kos viik. Nid joor, nahlaas uv dilon, vis kriist us zey_."

"And yet three ancient spirits and a mortal are able to lay low the self-proclaimed _thur _of all the dov, a title that rightfully belongs to Akotash," the Dragonborn retorted as the two combatants circled one another, each one still grimacing from his or her respective wounds.

"You dare speak the name of my _bomah _to slander me? For this insult, dovahkiin, you will suffer a fate far worse than death. I will not devour your soul, I will tear it from your very flesh and rip it apart, piece by piece."

The Dragonborn was beyond having enough. "So what are you waiting for? If you want it, come claim it!"

And with that, Alduin shouted "_Fo! Krah! Diin!_" The powerful blast of frost came right at the Dragonborn. With no room to dodge, she could only brace herself as the miniature blizzard slammed into her, biting into her flesh even through her armor. Fighting to shrug off the cold gnawing at her body, she lunged at Alduin and delivered a powerful horizontal slash across the left side of the dragon's face. As Alduin threw his head to the side, roaring in pain as he reeled from the strike, the Dragonborn darted around to Alduin's wounded wing, determined to hack it off completely and leave the World-Eater at her mercy. But it seemed Alduin still had plenty of fight left in him as his mace-like tail swung right at the Dragonbon's blind side and, using the momentum from the strike he received not a second earlier, smashed it into her body.

The Dragonborn, for the second time during the battle, found herself tumbling along the ground again and found herself once again by the cliff edge, only now she was mere inches away from it. As she pick herself up, she saw Alduin had managed to close the distance between the two of them, crippled as he was, and was now only a few feet from her, blocking off any flanking attempts she could make. She was trapped

Desperate, and seeing no other way, the Dragonborn inhaled deeply, steeling herself for what she was about to unleash. With a cry of dark fury, she uttered the words "_Rii! Vaaz! Zol!_" Soul Tear. The shout's raw power slammed into Alduin with a force unmatched, causing the black dragon to convulse in pain as his very soul was assaulted by Soul Tear's power.

As she watched Alduin thrash about in pain, the Dragonborn took a risk and ran directly underneath him, knowing she could be crushed under the dragon's bodyweight or even thrown off the ledge due to a flailing limb. Seeing his head falling toward her, she thrust her sword upward with a cry of righteous anger right toward the dragon's jaw. The blade thrust was true and impaled Alduin's skull on her blade.

Suddenly, Alduin's body began to glow and fracture. Fearing what may come, the Dragonborn tried to pull her sword out of Alduin's still convulsing head, but found that her hands would not respond, as though they were fused to the sword handle itself. Powerless, she could only watch helplessly as Alduin's body, in a brilliant flash of energy, exploded directly in front of her.

Time seemed to slow as she flew through the air, flying far from the cliff and deep into the abyss that awaited her below. She struggled to maintain conciseness as she fell, seeing black slowly appear all over her vision. _So this is how it ends, _she mused to herself; to travel so far, to experience so much, and now to die where all valiant souls find their final rest. Her resistance eroded the further into the abyss below Shor's hall she fell. As the darkness grew and her strength waned, her mind flashed back to everything that had led to this moment; Helgen, the battle at the watchtower outside Whiterun, the Companions, High Hrothgar, the College, the Legion, even Paarthurnax and Odahviing. Even memories before Helgen flashed before her eyes; her parents and their unlikely love, Daggerfall's beautiful scenery, a sunset over the vast Iliac Bay. _It's been a good life, nothing to regret_, she happily mused. And with that final thought, she gave in and allowed the darkness to finally claim her.

Dragon tongue translations

_Lok! Vah! Koor!_=Clear Skies shout

_Dinok_=death

_Dur_=Curse

_Mey_=fool

_Pahlok_=arrogance

_Zu'u fen ni mah. Zu'u nis kos viik. Nid joor, nahlaas uv dilon, vis kriist us zey_= I will not fall. I cannot be defeated. No mortal, alive or dead, can stand before me

_Fo! Krah! Diin!_=Frost Breath shout

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**And there you have it! Please, Please, Please leave your thoughts, comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism in your reviews! Feel free to PM me if you want to personally talk to me about ideas for upcoming chapters, I want to involve my readers as much as possible in developing this work.**

**Also, this and the next chapter are going to be all Elder Scrolls, but chapter 3 will introduce the DA universe. Hang in there, y'all!**

**Thank you again so much for taking the time to read this and join me on this amazing journey! I**


	2. Chapter 2: A Divine Task

**Howdy Howdy, y'all! Welcome back for chapter 2! Honestly, I didn't expect to see the kind of love this story has been receiving, especially from just ONE chapter. It was very humbling to see the number of favorites and follows over the near-two weeks that this story has been out. Thank you all, you have no idea what that means to a first-time author. Please keep following and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE leave reviews! I really do want to hear your feedback. PM me with suggestions if you want to. I like having a dialogue with my viewers.**

**Once again, I want to give a special shout-out to my AMAZING beta reader, loraine95, for taking time out of her busy schedule to read through these chapters so that we can deliver a quality experience to you, the readers! Don't forget to check out her smash hit, _Amalgamation. _It is a definite must-read for all those who have been craving a well-written ME/DA crossover.**

**As a reminder, I DO NOT own TES: Skyrim or DA: Inquisition. They are the intellectual property of Bethesda and Bioware respectively. All original content, however, is mine.**

**So, without anymore delay, here is the next installment of** **_Beyond Gods and Demons!_**

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Chapter 2: A Divine Task

Death wasn't exactly what she thought it would be. Everything felt so…still. She had always thought that, when she died, she would wake up in Atherius as a spirit, like those she had seen in Shor's Hall. Instead, she felt suspended, motionless, like she was in some secluded abyss. She didn't even know if she had a physical body anymore. Maybe she had fallen into some sort of gap in between planes and was now cut off from the afterlife. But she quickly dismissed that thought. _One does not simply fall through planes of existence_, she thought while mentally kicking herself. Or maybe this is the void, the great emptiness of the universe. _Maybe this is Sithis coming to exact his vengeance on me. I did wipe out the Dark Brotherhood after all_, she grimly thought. She had no regrets about it though. The Brotherhood had been a scourge on Tamriel for millennia, a symbol of darkness and fear in the world. It was high time that they were purged from the face of Nirn, and she had been glad to be the one who did it.

Then another idea dawned on her. _Maybe this is some sort of purgatory Arkay puts mortal souls through, to reflect on past sins before entering Atherius._ It would make sense, as not everyone has the privilege of a clear conscience upon death. And there were certainly a few events in the Dragonborn's past she had not found closure to yet. While she never considered herself a bigot, the Dragonborn held an undying hatred for the Thalmor. _Kidnapping people off the streets, spitting on the name of Talos, attacking MY family?!_ While she knew not all Altmer were as pretentious as the Thalmor, she would never forgive them for what they had done to her family, in this life or the next. But what haunted her the most what had transpired at Sky Haven Temple. The argument, the rage, the betrayal. The memories started to flood back, but she quickly shoved them back. _No, I'm not going back there! I will not relive that day,_ she screamed in her mind.

A pang of fear suddenly shot through her as another idea hit her; what if she had condemned herself to Oblivion? What if the Divines had decided to bar her from entering Atherius because of her past dealings with the Daedric Princes. Or, more likely, one of the princes she had met had decided to cash in on her being his or her champion and claim her soul. The Dragonborn had never worshipped any of the princes, but did consider a few of them valuable allies or at least valuable associates. She started running through all the lords of Oblivion she had encountered in her travels across Skyrim. Her first thought was Meridia, the Lady of light and life energies as well as the one who had bestowed mighty Dawnbreaker onto her. Given her surroundings and situation, however, she quickly eliminated Meridia from the list. _The Queen of Light certainly wouldn't place the soul of her champion in a black abyss,_ she concluded. Besides, Meridia's realm, while much wasn't known about it, certainly wouldn't be bathed in darkness.

The next on the list was Azura, the Lady of Dusk and Dawn as well as the Mother of Roses. But this place, wherever the Dragonborn was, certainly didn't fit the description of Moonshadow, Azura's realm in Oblivion, as well as place of indescribable beauty. _If I was in Moonshadow, I'm pretty sure Azura would have had me wake up in the Rose Palace. I did cleanse her star after all,_ the Dragonborn reasoned while she remembered her "journey" into Azura's star to banish Malyn Varen's soul. She had no problem doing the deed, since what Malyn had done was essentially a necromantic ritual. If there was one thing that made her blood boil, it was necromancy.

As she resumed going through her encounters, she quickly eliminated Sanguine, Malacath, and Hermaeus Mora. If this was Sanguine's realm, she was certain the Lord of Revelry would have had her at a huge banquet table where every type of conceivable and unconceivable form of debauchery and dark pleasure would be occurring. And she had never had strong affiliation with Malacath, so that automatically eliminated him. As for Hermaeus Mora, the clear lack of endless bookshelves, as well as massed green tentacles, clearly told the Dragonborn this _definitely_ was not Apocrypha. That, and she had never considered herself to be Mora's champion. _Wouldn't want to spend eternity with that freak anyway_, she happily mused.

That left Sheogorath as the only prince to whom she was the champion of. But this certainly didn't feel like the Shivering Isles. _He probably wanted to bring me to some fancy cheese party and sent me into an abyss instead. Seems par for the course, damn nutcase,_ she thought dryly. As humorous as he could be on rare occasions, Sheogorath's complete insanity and madness was more annoying than anything else. But she doubted even he could fail at something as simple as claiming her soul.

That left two possibilities, one of which she dreaded above all others. The first was Hircine, the Daedric Lord of the Hunt and father of manbeasts. It wouldn't surprise her if Hircine was livid with her for some of her past…transgressions. She had seen how vengeful the Daedric Prince could be, but locking her up in a dark abyss certainly didn't fit his personality. Besides, the Lord of the Hunt no longer held any sway over her soul as she had long since purged the beast blood from herself, as had Vilkas and Farkas. True, the Daedric Prince had given her his ring after she saved Sinding from the hunters Hircine sent after him and that may have made any bad blood between her and Hircene moot, but the Lord of the Hunt was really only interested in claiming the souls of werewolves, not regular mortal souls..

That left only one possibility, and it was one that she dreaded every time she slept: Vaermina, the Daedric Lord of Dreams and Nightmares. With the help of Erandur, the Dragonborn had ended the cult of Nightcaller Temple and banished the Skull of Corruption back to the Quagmire, Vaermina's realm in Oblivion, saving the town of Dawnstar from the Daedra's grasp. Since those events, the Lady of Dreams had tormented the Dragonborn every chance she could, leading to quite a few sleepless nights. But, without the skull's presence in Nirn, Vaermina's reach was limited. The Dragonborn, as frustrated as she was with not knowing where in existence she currently was, had to conclude that this definitely was not the Quagmire. The stillness she felt certainly didn't fit a constantly shifting nightmare realm. _Maybe this is some sort of mind-prison, making me doubt where I am while she feeds on my memories for all eternity. _It was certainly a possibility, as Vaermina was an expert at psychologically torturing mortals, turning even the bravest of souls into craven cowards just by being in her presence. But the Dragonborn knew that Daedric Princes, especially demonic ones like Vaermina, had a penchant for personally making examples of those who crossed them. The Lady of Dreams was no different in regards to this rule.

While her thoughts raced trying to figure out where she was and whether she was even alive or dead, she had been hearing a whisper all around her, calling to her. It was barely audible at first, but became more discernable as it grew in loudness.

"_Vopraan_."

That was the word she heard over and over again, commanding her to awaken. A deep, sagely, almost grandfatherly, voice spoke it over and over again. That's when her mind came to a halt. _Awaken? Why would something be telling me to awaken? I'm dead!_ Suddenly, she felt her eyelids beginning to move, as though she had been in a deep slumber. A bolt of realization suddenly shot through her. _That's not right. Dead people shouldn't be able to feel anything like this! I shouldn't feel anything, period. Unless…_

As if to confirm what was now running through her mind, the voice rang out loud and firm, this time in clear common tounge, "Awaken, my daughter_._"

Her eyes shot wide open, shock running through her entire body. Immediately she started looking in every direction, trying to find the source of the strange voice. Everything around her was dark, no illumination at all. Yet, when she looked down at her hands, she could still see glistening black metal of her gauntlets. It made her head spin even more than it already was.

"Your tale is not yet done."

There it was again. Who was this mysterious speaker? It certainly didn't sound like any dragon she encountered. It lacked the drawl of Paarthurnax and it was far to smooth in sound to be Odahviing's craggy voice. And she was pretty sure this wasn't the Soul Cairn, so that ruled out Durnehviir. She was becoming more and more confused by the second. Her confusion only increased when her blood began to scream in her ears. _Ok, now I'm _really_ starting to wonder if this is Hircene_, she thought with a hint of panic. Her whole body felt like it was about lock up, almost as though she was losing control of her limbs. Only when she was a werewolf had she experienced anything like this. But the most bizarre part of it all was that her blood was compelling her to bow before the disembodied voice that was speaking to her.

"Who are you," she yelled, desparate to retain control of herself. "Show yourself!"

Suddenly, a bright, golden light appeared before her. It radiated out toward her with an intensity that should have blinded her, but it didn't. Then it began to move toward her, slowly, but with purpose. As it moved toward the Dragonborn, the light began to change form. A pair of familiar shaped limbs took form, as well as a pair of clawed feet. As the tail, neck, and head took form, the Dragonborn couldn't believe what she was looking at. The light had changed into a golden, ethereal dragon. Its back spines were filed down, like the elder dragons she had occasionally encountered, but the crown of horns on its head were a sight; dozens of long horns all pointed straight back that made it look like the being had an ornate headdress. But the most striking feature was its skin, if it could even be called that. The being's "skin" was a constantly oscillating layer of golden flame, never ceasing to dance even when its master stopped only a few feet away from the Dragonborn. Even as she stared in awe of the creature before her, and the screaming of her blood reached almost deafening volumes in her ears, one thought crossed the Dragonborn's mind: _What in the name of Oblivion is going on?!_

"Who does your blood say that I am," the dragon simply asked, looking deep into the Dragonborn's eyes.

_My blood?! What does that have to…Wait a moment! _The Dragonborn stopped mid-thought as an epiphany dawned on her, one she couldn't believe. Her mind flashed back to her first trip to High Hrothgar, where she first learned about what being Dragonborn meant as well as how to use her Voice. It was a conversation she had with Master Arngeir before she had set off to find the horn of Jurgen Windcaller. They had discussed how Dragonborn came to be and why they existed. One particular part of that conversation came to mind and now, looking at the ethereal dragon before her, she could not believe who she was actually talking to.

"Akotash?!"

The word left her lips with as much awe and reverence as there was disbelief. As she spoke the name, she fell onto one knee and, giving in to the demands of her blood, bowed before the god standing only a few feet from her. She couldn't believe it! Akotash, the Dragon God of Time and Father of all Dragonkind, was both standing in front of her _and _speaking to her!

"Arise, my child. There is much to discuss," the ruler of the Divines commanded in the same sagely voice he had used earlier.

As she arose from her kneeling position, a plethora of questions raced through her mind. Was she dead? Where was she? How was Akotash speaking to her? Was she to be punished for killing his firstborn? And what exactly was going on?

As if reading her mind, Akotash began to speak once more. "Do not be afraid, my child. All your questions will soon be answered. To set your mind at ease, I will tell you this: you are not dead and have not passed into Oblivion. Rather, you are back in Mundus and very, very, much alive."

The dragon god's soothing words were like a wave of relief to the Dragonborn. _Well, at least I'm still alive,_ the thought with relief. But where exactly _was _she? This certainly didn't look like Tamriel. But a more immediate question still gnawed at her.

"Great Akotash, I must know, have you brought me here as punishment for killing Alduin, your firstborn?"

Letting out a deep, almost exhausted, sigh, Akotash spoke again, "You did what was necessary, my daughter. I took no pleasure in seeing my son die, but he had become blasphemous in his arrogant misuse of his power. He had led the rest of his brothers and sisters down a path I had not intended for them and threatened everything we Aedra had built. I can only hope that Paarthurnax will now lead them down a wiser path."

The sadness in the dragon god's voice was evident. Alduin had been both his firstborn and prized creation. But he had threatened his father's other great creation: Tamriel and, with it, mortalkind. Knowing one's child had to die to save countless lives was a pain of the worst kind for any parent, mortal or divine.

"But dwelling on the past is a fruitless endeavor," Akotash spoke, mournful tone suddenly absent from his voice. Looking at the Dragonborn, he continued to speak, "And, as you know all too well, my daughter, time must flow ever onward as it is meant to."

"Even now, events are taking form that may, or may not, bring disaster upon all of mortalkind, both in Nirn and beyond."

"Beyond, your eminence?"

The Dragonborn made no effort to hide the confusion as well as the bewilderment in her voice. _Does he mean there are worlds besides Nirn? Another mortal subplane within Mundus? Was such a thing possible?_

Akotash nodded his head in affirmation, confirming that the Dragonborn had indeed heard what she thought he had heard.

"Indeed. Long ago, when Lorkhan led us in building Nirn, rumors abounded that another group of Aedra, independent of Lorkhan's influence, attempted to build their own mortal plane. Most of us dismissed it as just a rumor. Others, such as myself, wondered if they were true."

While the God of Time spoke, the Dragonborn was absolutely mesmerized by what she was hearing. Another world? It sounded ridiculous. Yet, here was the ruler of the Divines telling her that there was at least one other world occupied my mortals in the universe.

"I was never given the opportunity to find out, however. Fate is fickle, even to those of divine origin. By that time, Magnus and the rest of our brethren had realized the price that they were paying for creating the mortal plane and had fled back to Atherius, leaving myself and the other seven original Divines to bind ourselves to the earth-bones of Nirn. But I never stopped wondering if that other faction of Aedra had actually succeeded in creating another world."

He paused for a moment, almost as though for dramatic effect. And then the words rolled from his lips like a boulder rolling down a hill.

"That is, until now."

The words hit the Dragonborn like a boulder into a wall. _There really are different worlds within Mundus!_ She knew the entire College of Winterhold would give _anything _to be hearing this revelation. But what this had to do with the coming disaster Akotash spoke of, she still did not know.

Deciding to voice her thoughts, she said, "I still do not understand. How does the coming disaster you spoke of relate to this other world?" She wanted to ask where she was, but this discovery, this revelation, was far more important than her location.

"Even from the earth-bones of Nirn, I could feel an…echo rippling across the very fabric of Mundus," he spoke, the slight pause not lost on the Dragonborn.

"From my eternal post, I gazed out across Mundus, searching for the source, until I finally found it. Though I should have been exited at finding that the rumors I heard so long ago were true, that another mortal world was in fact created, what I saw instead frightened me."

Then Akotash, after briefly pausing once more, drove the point home.

"This world's earth-bones have become severely weakened, and if action is not taken, it will completely collapse and cause destruction on an inconceivable scale across the very fabric of Mundus."

The Dragonborn was absolutely floored by what she just heard. A dying world? Decaying earth-bones? _What could possibly be powerful enough to weaken the foundations of a world? _She threw the quandary back and forth in her mind, trying to comprehend the very _idea_ that a world could not only collapse, but that said collapse could potentially destroy other worlds as well. It just didn't seem possible. Then again, people used to believe Daedric Princes couldn't cross over into Tamriel. Even two centuries later, the continent had never fully recovered from Mehrunes Dagon's invasion. The void in the decisive leadership of the Septim dynasty that had held the Empire, which had covered all of Tamriel, together for the entirety of the Third Era had led to multiple provinces seceding and the aggressive, supremacist mentality of the Aldemeri Dominion was turning Tamriel into a divided, broken land.

The more she thought about it, the more it actually made sense. But she still couldn't fathom what could even damage a world's foundations. And she _still _had no clue as to where she was.

"This is why I have brought you here, my daughter, to the border between Nirn and this forgotten world."

"Th-th-the BORDER between Worlds?!" the Dragonborn stammered in shock. _THAT'S where I am?!_ This was stretching the bounds of what she believed and didn't believe to be possible.

"Yes, so that you may understand how dire this crisis and to be prepared for the journey at hand," the Dragon God said matter-of-factly.

"Journey? I am to travel to this world? Why me?"

At this point, the Dragonborn was starting to wonder how many more shocks she could endure. Traveling to a new world? The number of unknowns with that scenario was larger than she could count. At least when she was in Skyrim she already had a sound understanding of where she was, thanks to her mother. But this was just too much.

"Because, my daughter, this is why the Dragonborn were first created: to restore peace and order to the world at times of great need," Akotash spoke, his voice firm, yet soothing at the same time.

"Have you never wondered why certain individuals throughout your history were able to do extraordinary feats when Tamriel seemed on the brink of disaster? Was it pure chance that a single prisoner, rotting away in a prison cell, would end up saving Nirn from being conquered by Mehrunes Dagon, the Lord of Destruction? Or that St. Alessia was able to found a free nation and chosen to form a covenant with me that would protect mortalkind from direct meddling from both Atherius and Oblivion? And what of the prisoner who would come to be known as the Nerevarine? Why was he able to succeed in defeating Dagoth Ur when so many others had failed over the centuries?"

"It is the same reason that only one of the dragonblood has ever ruled over all of Tamriel. And," he paused, looking straight into the Dragonborn's eyes, "why you were at Darkwater Crossing when you were, and became wrapped in the events that would set you on your journey to defeat my son rather than find refuge from the Thalmor with your relatives in Cyrodiil."

The Dragonborn was absolutely speechless at what she had just heard. All these names, all these exceptional figures from history she had read about. Every one of them placed at the right moment and the right time in history to accomplish feats that would impact the world for ages to come. _And every one of them a Dragonborn, _her almost numb mind processed. This was her heritage, and she was not about to betray something so sacred, especially not when it was the progenitor of that long legacy calling on her to fulfill her duty. There was no faltering in her decision when she finally had recovered enough to speak once more.

"Then…what would ask of me, great Akotash, in undertaking this journey," she asked, her resolve strengthened anew. She knew not what she would face in this world, but she would face it with the determination and tenacity that had seen her through her journeys across Skyrim.

Pleased with the Dragonborn's acceptance, the God of Time spoke once more, "This is the task I place before you: you are to travel to this world, discern what has caused its foundations to weaken, and remove the threat so that the earth-bones may heal. Only then will Nirn, and all of Mundus, be safe from catastrophe. And to aid you in your journey, I bestow this holy gift upon you."

The Dragonborn suddenly saw her amulet of Akotash slide out from under her cuirass, while Akotash's eyes had suddenly become bright gold beacons. A long, thin, golden stream of energy snaked out from the god's body and into the amulet. After a few seconds, the amulet returned to its resting position, only now it was resting outside her armor.

In awe, the Dragonborn dared not touch her amulet, but instead asked with as much reverence as awe, "What just happened?"

"I will say only this, my daughter. A dragon's thu'um can make low mountains and part raging seas. But through my blood, which your amulet now possesses, a thu'um, whether spoken through thought or voice, can transcend time and space itself."

To say she was mystified would be a colossal understatement. She was still wrapping her mind around the magnitude of what just happened. Not since the days of St. Alessia had Akotash gifted a mortal the power of his blood. And she still had no idea what exactly it would enable her to do now.

Pushing herself out of her mystified state, she said, "Thank you for this gift, your eminence. But regarding the world I am to travel to, do you have any insight as to what could be causing its earth-bones to weaken?"

Akotash's "brow," if dragons had brows in the first place, furrowed, clearly deep in thought on the matter.

"I wish I could tell you more, but even my sight is limited. However it does seem…"

His head jerked up suddenly, and began to look deep into the space behind the Dragonborn. She looked behind herself, wondering what had caught the god of time's attention, but saw nothing but black. Clearly, it must be something only a Divine can perceive.

Akotash returned his gaze to the Dragonborn, a sense of dire urgency communicated by his eyes. She had to wonder what could cause a god to panic like this.

"A critical moment in the time flow approaches. You must go now if this world is to be brought back from the brink."

At that moment, a golden light began to engulf the Dragonborn, rendering her immobile. She tried to speak, to understand what was happening, but found herself unable to. All she could do was feel the heat of the blazing light wrap itself around her body, surprised that it wasn't burning her skin. At the climax, she felt all her senses become overloaded and quickly blacked out.

* * *

**And now we FINALLY get to move on to Thedas! YAY! As always, please leave all of your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and constructive criticisms in your reviews. Feel free to PM me with ideas or questions, I turn away NO ONE!**

**Thank you all once again for taking the time to read this as well as joining me on this incredible journey! I'm very eager to show you where I'm taking this and I hope you'll find it as exciting to read as I have writing it. **


	3. Chapter 3: Imprisoned

**Howdy, Howdy ladies and gentlemen! We're finally back with Chapter 3! I know it's been awhile since Ch. 2, but this one just ended up being meatier than the past two, since this is our entrance into Thedas. **

**I really have appreciated everyone's constructive feedback on this story, it really does go a long way in making this the best possible experience for everyone. On that note, many of y'all have expressed concern in this going in a "Mary Sue" direction. Let me be clear, I have no intention of making any warrior goddesses/unshakable-paragons-of-all-things-good. Also, to the reader who pointed out my misspelling of Akatosh's name in the last chapter, that was a lazy grammatical error on my part so my bad on that.**

**Once again, BIG shout-out to my beta, loraine95, who continues to be an amazing proof-reader as well as a wonderful soundboard for ideas. Please check out her hit, **_**Amalgamation, **_**it is a great read and definitely worth your time.**

**I do not own TES: Skyrim or DA: Inquistion. The creative rights belong to Bethesda and Bioware, respectively. Original Content, however, does belong to me.**

**With all that out of the way, here's Chapter 3 of Beyond Gods and Demons.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Imprisoned

The air in the prison was as oppressive as the darkness that covered it. Save for the torches that dimly lit the chamber, it was almost completely bathed in black. It was almost worse than the metal restraints around her wrists. _Maker, how did I get into this mess_? This and more ran through the mind of the woman sitting in the middle of the chamber. Even though she didn't dare look up, she knew there were several guards in the chamber surrounding her, their swords pointed at her like she was an abomination waiting to reveal itself.

A strange, but familiar, sensation suddenly ran through her hand, along with sounded like a crackling sound. As she cautiously looked down at her uncovered left hand to see what she already knew was there, she noted how there seemed to have been similar sound from somewhere nearby in the cell. When she turned her palm up, she could see what looked like lime green veins coursing through her hand, pulsating with energy. An instant later, the unusual mark seemed to explode, lime green bolts shooting off of it. The woman yelled in pain as her whole hand felt like it was being stabbed a thousand small daggers at once.

_What in the name of Andraste is this thing?_ She was both frightened and baffled by what the strange mark on her hand was as well as how it came to be there in the first place. One moment she had been at the Temple of Sacred Ashes as part of the delegates from the Free March noble houses for the Conclave, next thing she knew she was being chased by strange spider-like creatures up a steep hill and had passed out. _But there was someone else, wasn't there?_

It suddenly dawned on her that someone else had yelled in pain the same time she had. Looking to her right, past the guards surrounding her, was another figure, arms hanging above the head and held in place by independent shackles against the wooden pillar closest to herself. As she looked closer, trying to see past the two guards posted on either side, the figure turned out to be another woman. Even through the dim lighting, the woman in the middle of the chamber could make out most of the stranger's features. She had fair skin, lightly tanned, as well as sharply defined cheekbones. Her hair was a deep auburn, with most of it pulled back into a thick ponytail that looked to go down to where her neck met her collarbone, along with what looked like a small braid that seemed to also run around her head and under the ponytail itself. There were also a pair of long bangs on either side of her head that seemed to hang just outside the corner of her eyes.

It was too dark to make out the stranger's eye color, but she could tell that the stranger was studying her as well. The mysterious person's eyes seemed to also be darting around the chamber, taking in what little surroundings there were, as well as occasionally looking up at her hands to watch her fingers flex. She seemed so familiar, but the woman in the middle of the chamber couldn't put her face to an event.

She then realized that she _had_ seen this person before. _You were there when those things attacked us_, she thought with a sudden sense of realization. The memories, or what could count as memories, came back as she remembered the events just before she had mysteriously passed out.

She had felt someone shake her shoulder while she was on the ground. As she woke up, she had seen a woman, the same one now with her in the prison cell, hovering above her, concern clearly outlined on her face.

"…all right? Come on, wake up!" The woman's voice had had a sense of dire urgency in it.

As she had begun to regain her sense of awareness, she started to lift herself off the ground. The stranger stooped down to help her back onto her feet as well as to balance her. Curiously, she had felt something sharp and pointed poking into her where the strange woman had place her hands to help her up.

"Thank you," she remembered saying to the woman when she had regained her footing, who had displayed both relief and confusion on her face. "But who are you?"

A brief display of hesitation had played across the woman's face before she seemed to have come to a conclusion.

"My name's Senna. Senna Ashcroft. Yours?"

Accepting the fact that the woman, who identified herself as 'Senna,' had given her name as a sign of trust, most likely out of necessity, she decided to give Senna hers.

"Kathryne Trevelyan," she had replied, understanding the need for mutual trust if they were to escape wherever they were.

"Right. Well, introductions aside, I'd say that hill in the distance could give us a better sense of where exactly we are," Senna had said. Kathryne then remembered looking to her right and seeing the hill her new acquaintance was referring. It had looked incredibly steep, almost a small mountain. Curiously, there seemed to be a white light emanating from the summit of the hill.

While she was at it, she had briefly taken in her surroundings, or lack thereof. Most of where they were had been surrounded by a strange black mist, and what land she could see was composed of craggy, broken, rock. But what had been the most _bizarre _feature of their surroundings was the sky. She remembered it being a sickly green, the same as the strange mark on her hand, as well as moving, yet static at the same time. Her observation had lasted only a few seconds before she turned back to her new companion.

"Agreed," Kathryne nodded in agreement. "The sooner we get above this dust storm, the sooner we can figure out where in the name of Andraste we are."

They had both passed into silence as they began moving toward the hill. Kathryne remembered that neither of them had spoken during the surprisingly short journey to the hill's base as they were too focused on figuring out where they were.

Then she remembered that this was where things took a dreadful turn for the worst. Just as they had been closing in on the bottom of the hill, she had heard what sounded like a cross between a screech and a chattering noise behind her. When she turned around, pure dread and horror shot through her body; dozens of demonic spiders were scurrying towards them at an alarming pace. A brief glance at Senna revealed a look of horror upon her face as well.

Without so much as batting an eyelash, both of the women made a beeline for the hill, sprinting at a mad pace even as the monsters had begun to close in on their prey. Kathryne remembered that she had reached the hill first and had begun to climb. Senna had reached it half a second later, but, instead of climbing, turned to face the horde closing in on them.

"What in the name of Andraste are you doing? We need to get out of here!"

At that time, Kathryne couldn't fathom what would compel this woman to face Maker-knows what those monstrosities were. There was no way she would be able to take on all those beasts at once. _Maybe she's trying to buy me time_, she wondered with a great deal of apprehension and worry.

What happened next, however, had left the Free March noble in awe.

Still in disbelief at what had happened, Kathryne replayed the scene in her mind, watching as Senna seemed to take in a deep breath, and _shouted_ directly at the demons. A powerful wave of pure force emanated from in front of Senna and had crashed into the horde like a charging druffalo, sending _dozens _of the demonic spiders flying over into the abyss below and more back down the path they had come. She had been only maybe a fifth of the way up the hill, but had stopped completely while watching what she had thought was to be a last stand.

_Is she a mage?_ Kathryne had heard about the abilities of force mages, but she had never heard of any school of magic that utilized one's _voice _as a weapon. Her thoughts had consumed her for several seconds before she realized she had completely stopped her climb. For a moment, she thought she could slow down the climb now that the spiders were gone.

But the screeching cries of the spiders returned. Fortunately, Senna had already begun her climb and had managed to close in on Kathryne, who already had a head start. Kathryne had been surprised at how quick Senna had caught up, considering the large armor she seemed to be wearing. She remembered the fear-laden adrenaline running through her as she climbed further and further up the hill, determined not to die at the hands of these monsters.

As she closed in on the summit, she remembers seeing what appeared to be a woman, wreathed in golden light, reaching out to her. With every ounce of willpower she could muster, Kathryne pushed herself upwards and forwards, reaching out with her left hand toward the mysterious figure. And that was the last event she could remember before waking up in the cell.

While she had recalled the events leading to her imprisonment, she had been observing her companion from wherever it was they had been and only now had a full view of her entire being, including her armor. Kathryne had only glimpsed at the armor prior to their unexpected incarceration, but looking at now, it filled her with almost as much dread as those spider demons they had encountered.

To say Kathryne was disturbed by the other woman's apparel would be a colossal understatement. The armor looked absolutely _demonic_! It was a dark black that seemed to blend in with the room's shadows, yet its opaque luster glistened in the prison's dim light. Sharp points seemed to cover and protrude from every conceivable point along the armor, from the boots to the cuirass. In fact, it was the cuirass that held one of the armor's most disturbing features. A blood red glow pulsated along the breastplate, from the chest to the lower abdomen. It was a truly other-worldly sight to see. Curiously, she noticed what looked like an ornate buckle at Senna's waist-line. The outline seemed to take the shape of a diamond, but the tips were never formed, and there appeared to be some sort of design in the middle. Despite her efforts, the dim lighting, as well as the guards surround her, made it difficult for Kathryne to make out what the buckle's shape actually was.

But perhaps the most frightening feature of the armor she could make out were the gauntlets. Or rather, gauntlet. Senna's left hand was exposed, revealing a dim, grey under suit that tapered off at mid-wrist, and emanating the same sickly green her own hand now possessed. The other hand, however was completely covered in black metal, including the hand. But Kathryne couldn't even call it a hand, as what would have been Senna's right hand was a set of black claws extending from the fingers, their sharp tips glistening for all to see. Kathryne wanted to believe that they were purely ornamental, but they definitely looked sharp enough to cut flesh. She made a mental note _not _to put herself on the receiving end of those claws.

The whole suit looked like a twisted, nightmarish version of the armor worn by the Templars, minus the order's signature skirt and sash, and it looked just as thick if not more so. It terrified her as much as it made her head spin.

Before she could contemplate further, the loud sound of a door being slammed open pulled her out of her thoughts. On one hand, she was keen on finding out why she was imprisoned. But, on the other, she was afraid of how this could end. _Both of our heads on a chopping block,_ she thought grimly.

In the now opened doorway stood two figures, both women. The lead figure strode into the room toward Kathryne, her left hand resting on the ornate hilt of her longsword. She had short, black hair and wore what looked like lavender colored armor. The other woman wore a similar colored outfit, only this woman wore what looked like a shrouded hood, along with a long coat made of what appeared to be light chainmail and padded leather that stretched down to her knees. Instead of heading toward her like the first figure, the hooded woman broke off from her companion and strode toward Senna, who at this point was starring right at the hooded woman.

Kathryne's thoughts, however, refocused on the first figure in front of her as she drew closer, revealing more of her appearance. One feature however, drew all of Kathryne's attention above all others, and washed her in a wave of pure dread; the symbol on the woman's chest plate. It was the Chantry sun with an eye superimposed on the center. Only one organization in all of Thedas was affiliated with _that_ symbol: the Seekers of Truth.

Thanks to her family's deep connections with the Chantry, Kathryne knew all too well who and, more importantly, _what _the Seekers were. They were the investigative branch of the Chantry, rooting out failures of leadership and abuses of power within the Chantry as well as hunting down especially elusive apostate mages. Seekers also possessed a great deal of latitude when it came to the law as they answered to no one except the Divine herself. And Kathryne knew that they were, perhaps, the only organization in all of Thedas that the Templars truly feared. Some of her older relatives who had served in the Templars had told her that on the rare occasion that a Seeker had visited a Circle, every single knight, from the Knight-Commander down, instantly became on edge.

The Seeker passed around Kathryne's left, seeming to circle around her like a predator stalking its prey. Every second of silence gnawed away at the Free March noble's resolve, fearing what may happen. _Am I a prisoner of the Templars? The Seekers did take command of them at the start of the war. _But she quickly dismissed that thought as the soldiers surrounding her were _definitely _not wearing standard Templar armor. If this Seeker was actually still loyal to the Chantry, then Kathryne knew this was not going to end well for her or Senna.

Having passed from peripheral view, the Seeker continued to walk until she stopped. Judging from the sound of her steps, Kathryne guessed somewhere behind her and to her right, between herself and Senna. Then she heard the Seeker speak, anger clearly seething through her voice.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill either of you now."

* * *

_Well this is certainly a familiar scene_, Senna thought to herself with as much sarcasm as dryness. She would never understand how she managed to land herself in these situations.

Since she had woken up to the sight of an expansive prison cell as well as what appeared to be two guards wearing some kind of wooly coat leveling their swords at her, she couldn't stop grumbling to herself in her mind about how this seemed to be someone's idea of a sick joke. Almost a year ago, she had been pinned with a 'guilty by association' verdict for being in the wrong place at the wrong time in Darkwater Crossing, had too close of an encounter with the headsman's axe in Helgan, and now it was happening all over again. Even though she now knew it was fate that had placed her there that day, it still didn't ease her mind regarding her predicament. And she _really_ didn't want to revisit that mess in Markarth involving the Forsworn and the Silver-Bloods which had briefly landed her in Cidna Mine.

It sure hadn't done anything for her shoulders, which were screaming at her since her arms were chained above her head. She hoped she hadn't damaged either of them when she was thrown from Alduin's back following his rather dramatic crash. If she was going to be like this for a while, any damage not treated could become permanent and there went her sword-arm. Flexing her fingers, she was relieved to find out that nothing seemed to be broken.

Curiously, she realized that she had felt skin with her left hand. In fact, now that she thought about it, she didn't feel anything at all covering her hand at all. Tilting her head back as far as she could in order to look up, she saw that her left hand was, in fact, no longer sheathed in its daedric gauntlet. Her brow instantly furrowed, wondering why her captors would take, of all things, one of her gauntlets.

Senna's question was soon answered as sickly green energy suddenly erupted from her hand, sending a jolt of pain through her left arm. The Dragonborn yelled in pain as she jerked her head back down, burrowing her chin into her chest as she struggled to regain her breath.

_Shor's bones, what is that thing! _It certainly didn't look like any kind of magic she had seen. She raced through her memories, trying to remember where she could have acquired this strange mark on her hand.

There was here meeting with Akatosh, then that strange place where she was chased by demonic Thalmor, and then the prison she was in now. Yet something felt like it was missing. She was pretty sure Akatosh didn't send her into a pit only to awaken in a prison. Besides, when she regained consciousness in that abyss, she hadn't felt the warmth of the aurora Akatosh had enveloped her in. It was almost as though someone had removed a piece of her memory and then connected the time she was enveloped and her awakening in that gods-forsaken pit to cover it up.

While she mulled over recent events, it had occurred to her that someone else had yelled at the same time she had. When Senna looked around the room, she found another woman, kneeling in the middle of the chamber with metal shackles on her arms. She wore some kind of wooly, green coat that covered her entire body. The woman had light tan skin, not too different from Senna's, raven black hair that was neck length, and a fairly slender face. She seemed to be studying the Dragonborn, much like how Senna was studying her.

As Senna studied this other woman, she suddenly remembered that she had been in that pit with her. _What was her name? It was…Kathryne! Her name's Kathryne! _There episode in the pit had revealed an important fact to Senna that gave her a brief sense of relief: the people of this world, or at the very least its humans, could speak common tongue. That meant she could hopefully work out a diplomatic solution to getting out of this mess and get on with her real mission.

Her attention was suddenly shifted to the chamber's door, which had just been thrown open. The guards in the chamber all sheathed their weapons as two feminine figures strode into the cell. The lead figure seemed to have short, black hair and, from what Senna could see in the dim light, could have passed for an Imperial. She wore a lavender outfit with a similarly tinted breastplate as well as metal-studded gloves, and carried a longsword with a very ornate hilt. She strode toward Kathryne with enough cold confidence to give even Aela pause, which was saying something.

The second figure who walked into the room, however, caught most of Senna's attention. This was because, unlike the first person, this other woman broke off and strode toward Senna. Like the first woman, this person could have passed for an Imperial in Tamriel. However, unlike her compatriot, she wore what looked like a lavender shroud draped over her head and shoulders. The top of her outfit was clearly padded leather but the rest looked to be a long coat made of light chainmail. Her face conveyed both an accusatory and inquisitive demeanor. Whoever this woman was, everything about her told Senna that this person liked living in the shadows.

Senna straightened herself up as much as she could against the wooden pillar she was chained, wanting to appear unfazed before the shady figure before. Deciding to passively observe events unfold before she made her move, Senna returned the hooded woman's quizzical stare with her own. She was actually curious as to who these two people were, clearly they seemed important figures, but she needed information. And appearing to study this hooded woman, now only a few feet away from herself, seemed to be the best cover for her at the moment.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill either of you now."

The other woman's anger-filled voice brought Senna out of her thoughts, as well as changed her gaze to the first woman. Her accent certainly wasn't anything found among the Tamrielic races of humans, but at least Senna could understand her, just like Kathryne. Judging from the venom in her voice, she sounded pissed.

"The Conclave is destroyed," the first woman continued as she resumed her pacing, sadness and mourning clearly evident in her tone, "Everyone who attended is dead."

_Conclave? What is this person talking about? _Clearly, this must have been an extremely important event for death threats to be thrown around like this. And judging from how mournful she sounded, she must have lost someone dear to her at what appeared to be a major disaster. Senna could somewhat empathize with her since she was just as in need of answers as this person was.

The first woman stopped her pacing in front of both Senna and Kathryne, daggers from her gazing boring into both of them like daggers.

"Except both of you," she finished, the rage and fury from earlier returned to her voice.

_So she hates our guts and wants both our heads on a platter? Maybe I can use that to my advantage_, Senna thought as an escape plan started to form in her mind. Unlike her incident at Helgan, she had one trick up her sleeve that might give her the element of surprise in escaping. It was bold, crazy, and would probably end with her dying, but she would rather die with a sword in her hand than get sent to the chopping block again. As much as she hated to manipulate this person, she needed to find a way out so she could begin her mission of saving this world, as well as possibly save Kathryne from the chopping block as well. _All I have to do is get her riled up enough to take a swing at me with her sword_, her keen mind concluded as she began to flex her fingers again to make sure they still had blood flow. _And try not to kill unless I have to. _

Senna could see Kathryne was clearly distraught by all this. She probably knew what the first woman was talking about, given the mournful and shocked look that appeared across her face.

"You think we're responsible," Kathryne exclaimed with as much disbelief as shock. She had briefly glanced at Senna while she spoke, indicating she was either speaking on both their behalves, or was looking to Senna for help. As much as Senna wished she could help her fellow prisoner, she knew she had to wait on the sidelines.

The first woman aggressively reached down and forcefully yanked Kathryne's left hand into the air as it once again crackled with green energy. Senna felt the same sensation in her own left hand while she flexed her fingers, trying to stem the ever growing numbness in her hands.

"Explain _this_," the woman spat while the mark crackled with energy. She violently shoved Kathryne's arm back down before continuing to lay into her. "We found it on both of your left hands. Now talk!" A look of helplessness painted itself across her face as she looked up, desperate for help from _anyone_.

_This has gone on long enough!_ Senna could feel her blood boiling while she watched Kathryne's interrogator lay into her with an unnecessary amount of fury. She had been witness to more than a few interrogations conducted on captured Stormcloaks, not mention what the Thalmor did, but this person clearly had a personal vendetta she was willing to pin on _anyone_. She decided that if she was going to get the heat off of Kathryne, as well as execute her escape plan, now was the time.

"How about _you _tell us what we're actually charged with before you start throwing death threats around!"

Senna's audacious outburst had the desired effect. Immediately, the sword-carrying woman spun her head around in Senna's direction, the daggers that had been pointed at Kathryne now pointed at Senna. _Well that didn't take much_, Senna thought with satisfaction as the armed woman seemed to have taken the bait with ease. Senna briefly glanced at the hooded woman, how now had a look of genuine surprise painted all across her face. _I guess she didn't expect me to speak the same language as she does_, she concluded, remembering what a relief it was when she had learned this from Kathryne. Deciding to press the advantage, Senna resumed her verbal assault.

"Because all I'm hearing is hot air from a spoiled milk-drinker who decided that we're guilty on the spot just because we miraculously survived a disaster!"

As the armed woman closed in on Senna, hate and fury painted all across her face, she noticed the hooded woman display a look of concern and confusion on her face. _She's probably wondering why I'm goading her companion_, Senna concluded. _I just hope she doesn't realize what I'm up to, not that she could see what's coming_.

The armed woman stopped directly in front of Senna, their faces mere inches apart. Senna could now see the woman's entire face. She had thin eyebrows, black as night, a scar below her right eye as well as one streaking upward from her jawbone to the middle of her left cheek, and brown eyes burning with anger. The woman's attempt being intimidating had next to no effect on Senna. Then again, it would be difficult for any mortal to intimidate someone who had faced the firstborn of a god in single combat as well as someone who was hounded by a sadistic dream goddess.

Senna tilted her head slightly to the left, allowing a malicious smirk to slide across her face. She took no pleasure in doing this, but if she was going to stand a chance at escaping, and possibly rescuing Kathryne, she had to push this woman to try to kill her. Then, with every drop of malice she could force, Senna allowed one final insult to leave her lips.

"Well?"

Before Senna knew what had happened, the woman grabbed the collar of Senna's armor with her left hand and delivered a vicious backhand with her right to her face. Senna could feel the hard, metal studs slam into the right side of her face just in front of her ear. Before she could even register the ringing in her ears, Senna felt herself get slammed violently into the pillar she was chained to, her head barely missing the pillar.

"You petulant worm!"

The woman's roar at Senna was so fierce, it reverberated all across the cell. Her sight returning to normal, Senna could see from behind her assailant that the hooded woman's face was now one of subtle worry. _Guess she knows her partner has a short temper. I better work fast before she tries to intervene._

"Hundreds dead! The destruction of the most holy site in all of Thedas! And the death of Divine Justinia! All this blood is on YOUR hands, DEVIL," the woman yelled with every ounce of fury she could muster.

Senna suddenly felt a knife twist in her heart. Even through the fury, she could hear grief and sorrow in the woman's voice. Whoever this 'Divine Justinia' was, she must have meant a great deal for her interrogator to be acting with such savage fury. She could understand it, though. She constantly hunted for justice against the Thalmor, for the crimes they had committed against her family. For a moment, Senna wondered if her 'transportation' might have caused whatever disaster her captors kept referring to. But she quickly reasoned that it was highly unlikely. Aedra embodied the constants of life. They didn't cause events that lead to drastic and catastrophic change as that was the role of the Daedric Princes.

But her empathy and sentimentality were quickly replaced by her own righteous fury. If there was one thing besides necromancy that Senna would not stand for, it was being accused of shedding innocent blood. _When I break out of here, I'm going to put this self-righteous brat in her place!_ Balling her hands into fists, she bellowed back in defiance against her interrogator.

"You think I'm a _murderer_?! That I spilled innocent blood?! Let's get one thing straight here. The only person who's even _contemplating_ spilling innocent blood is _you_! I may dress like a devil, but I have saved more lives in a year than you probably have in your life!"

Senna's blood was absolutely on fire by this point. The intensity of her glare was so great, she may as well have been shooting dragon fire from them. She could tell that the woman in front of her was just about pushed over the edge. Deciding to give her one final nudge, she leaned as far forward as her shackles would allow and growled, "But if you're so eager for blood, then how about you draw your sword and kill me now? If you have the guts to do it, of course."

Her interrogator was dancing to her tune flawlessly. While the woman backed up, clearly preparing to draw her sword, Senna flexed her fingers one more time, bracing herself for the adrenaline rush that was to come. _I have to time this just right_, she thought as she quickly ran through her plan of attack. It was then that she also noticed that the hooded woman had briefly glanced up at Senna's hands, followed by a look of apparent realization dancing across her face. _Damn it! She's onto me! _Senna reaffixed here gaze on the first woman in front of her._ Come on, come on. Take the swing already_, she mentally willed at her interrogator. The thoughts in her head were running at a thousand miles per hour. Her whole plan hinged on this moment, and that sword swing had to happen or else she wouldn't stand a chance.

As the armed woman drew her sword, blood-lust in her eyes, the hooded woman quickly made her way to her companion with the clear intent of stopping her. She grabbed her companion by the shoulder, determined to bring some sense back to her.

"Enough, Cassandra!"

_So that's your name_, Senna thought while she resisted the urge to glare at the hooded woman. "We need them both alive," the hooded woman spoke firmly to her companion, now identified as 'Cassandra.' "Killing her won't give us the answers we need," the hooded woman continued, trying to reason with Cassandra. But Cassandra shoved her companion out of her way, clearly beyond seeing any form of reason, as she resumed her march toward Senna.

"Out of my way, Leliana. This _monster_ has a death wish, and I am more than willing to give it to her," Cassandra growled as she brought her sword across and over her right shoulder, making it clear she was going to take a horizontal slash to Senna's outstretched neck.

_Sorry 'Liliana,' but your friend just got played_, Senna thought mockingly as she readied herself for the fight to come.

Before Liliana could stop her, Cassandra roared with fury as she began to swing her sword at Senna's neck. But she was completely unprepared for what was about to happen next.

_Surprise,_ Senna thought as she shouted "_Feim! Zii! Gron!"_ In the blink of an eye, Senna felt herself transform into a spectral being, her body now transparent and made of violet energies. Time seemed to slow as Senna effortlessly slid out of her shackles and into a semi-kneeling positions, while Cassandra's sword harmlessly passed through her and imbedded itself deep in the wooden pillar. Senna then pushed herself forward, relieved that her ethereal form allowed her to move quickly without exerting herself, and charged toward the guard that was to the left and front of Kathryne.

As she passed through two guards that stood in her way with ease, she could see looks of shock and horror play across the faces of everyone in front of her, including Kathryne. Realizing he was the target, the guard Senna was running at began to draw his sword. But Senna had already closed the distance before it was half-drawn. Using her left shoulder as a battering ram, Senna slammed herself into the guard, causing herself to revert back to her normal form, and knocking the guard into the wooden wall. Without hesitating, she grabbed the collar of the guards coat and delivered a powerful, armored, punch into the guard's nose. Senna could hear the sickening sound of bone being shattered as the guard crumpled to the ground, screaming in pain and clutching his face.

Senna quickly grabbed the hilt of the guard's sword, still in its sheath, and drew it out while spinning back toward the rest of the room just in time to block another guard's downward slash. Gripping her sword with both hands, Senna forced her opponent's sword down hard, rotating her wrists as she pulled in preparation for her retaliatory strike as well as her body so that she had a better stance than what she had now. She then delivered an upward slash across the guard's torso, starting at the guard's left rib cage and ending at just underneath the right armpit. The blade more than easily cut through the guard's armor, leaving a deep gash across the guard's body. The guard reeled from the vicious counterattack, lowering his sword-arm and clutching his chest with his left. But Senna wasn't finished yet. She grabbed the guard's right arm with her left hand and twisted it so that it was upside down. She then brought the hilt of her sword down hard on the guard's elbow, resulting in a very loud _snap_ as the guard's elbow was shattered.

Senna didn't even watch her now-incapacitated opponent crumple to the ground as she surveyed the room and her remaining opponents. In front her were the remaining four guards, all with their swords now drawn. Curiously, they seemed to backing away as opposed to advancing on her. _I bet my shape-shifting act caught them off guard in more than one way_, Senna concluded. By this time, Cassandra had finally managed to pull her sword out of the pillar, looked to be spoiling for a fight, bringing Senna's count of opponents to five.

Liliana, however, did not appear to be participating in the fight. Curiously, she seemed to be hanging back, apparently opting to observe events as they unfolded rather than directly participate. Senna concluded that she was probably wondering what other tricks she had up her sleeve. _Speaking of tricks…_It suddenly dawned on Senna that her magicka was drained. Whether it was the mark on her hand, her transportation, or just this world, Senna could sense that her magicka was not regenerating as quickly as it normally did. While it wasn't regenerating at a crippling pace, she knew it wasn't anywhere near fast enough for her to summon even a pair of flame atronachs to help her anytime soon, not that they'd last very long in a close-quarters fight like this.

_Guess I'm doing this the hard way_, Senna grimaced as she readied herself for the long fight ahead of her. _At least I still have my Voice_, she thought with some relief. But in these close quarters, shouts like Unrelenting Force and Fire Breath might accidentally hit Kathryne and kill her. She had to be careful with what she used as well when she used them. Some of her shouts drained her breath more than others, and she couldn't afford to liberally throw shouts around like she could her magic.

"Guards, stand down," Cassandra commanded as she advanced toward Senna. "This demon is mine."

"Still can't get past the armor, can you," Senna retorted as she and Cassandra began to circle around each other, passing in front of Kathryne.

"I have seen all need to, demon," Cassandra growled as the snarl on her face deepened. "You murdered Justinia, and I _will_ have your head for your crimes."

Senna stopped just in front of Kathryne, as though to defend her from everyone else in the room. Her face portrayed a mix of annoyance and anger as she had just about had it with being accused of a crime she hadn't committed.

"I didn't kill your 'Justinia' just like how I didn't kill your guards over there," she said motioning toward the two incapacitated guards nursing their wounds on the floor. "But I will not let myself or Kathryne be dragged off to face execution without a chance to prove our innocence. So either you give us that chance, or you summarily execute us now."

Her statement seemed to give Cassandra a moment of pause, almost as if she was contemplating giving Senna a chance. In truth, Senna was trying to _avoid_ killing the opponents arrayed in front of her as much as possible. As much as she wanted to put Cassandra in her place, killing her or anyone else in the room would most likely brand her a wanted woman, and then she'd _never _be able to accomplish her mission. But now, maybe there was a way to get out of this diplomatically. She hoped, at least.

The solution to the standoff, however, did not come from either combatant, but from behind Cassandra.

"Enough! Both of you."

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	4. Chapter 4: Into the Valley

**Howdy everyone! **

**I want to deeply apologize for the ludicrous wait you have endured for this chapter. Over the past two months, there has been some serious activity here at Goofball Central Command. My family moved to our new house, which takes a great deal of time and effort. Unfortunately, our internet provider has yet to reach us with internet since our house is a new property in a new neighborhood, so that has made finding free time to go to McDonald's to do internet stuff difficult. To top it off, work has been brutal lately, so that left me too drained to even think about writing for a while. Add to the fact that I hit a low spot a while ago that almost resulted me to delete the story and, well, it was a perfect storm.**

**But perseverance prevailed, and I hope this chapter is worth the wait. And fear not, I am committed to keeping this story alive and going. **

**Also, my beta reader, loraine95, has recently informed me that she will be unable to continue beta reading for this story due to recent events in her life. As such, I am now in the market for a new beta reader. If you are interested in being part of making this story great, please see details at the end of the chapter AFTER you have read it. **

**Lastly, I wanted to say how amazed I am at the amount of favorites and follows this story has picked up in just 3 chapters. You, my readers and followers, are amazing and I appreciate your patronage and support of this story. **

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Chapter 4: Into the Valley

Both warriors turned their heads in the direction of Leliana's voice as she emerged from the boundaries of the cell, positioning herself between Cassandra and the black armored woman. Even though she was still trying to fathom exactly what had just happened mere minutes ago, Leliana's thoughts were focused on reigning in the two hotheads before they literally tore each other's throats out. That, and she still had not heard either prisoners' account of what had transpired at the Conclave.

"Leliana…," Cassandra began to growl, attempting to assert her "control" of the situation. But the former Bard promptly cut the Seeker off.

"You and I both know there are larger problems at hand than this," she interjected sternly. "And," Leliana continued, "we still don't know what happened at the Conclave."

The Left Hand of the Divine hoped she could at least appeal to Cassandra's sense of reason as she knew all too well trying to calm her down in a situation like this would be next to impossible. Although Leliana admired the passion and drive Cassandra put into everything that she did, that same passion also fueled the Seeker's brashness as well as her headstrong mentality, often causing her to think with her heart rather than her mind. And, true to form, the Right Hand of the Divine refused to back down.

"What more do we need to see?" Cassandra barked back. "That _thing_ is a demon and killed the Divine! How else do you explain what she did?"

"I do not have an explanation, and neither do you." Leliana was determined to retain her composure in the face of Cassandra's fury. Adding another enraged individual to the situation would only be adding fuel to the already out of control fire that was before her. "But what I _do _know is that there is clearly more going on here than we know. They may hold the key to discovering what happened."

Silence, as well a small huff from Cassandra, told Leliana all she needed to know: her compatriot was at least considering her words. Satisfied, she turned her head toward the other hot-blooded woman, and said, "Now, I'd like to hear both you and your compatriot's account of what happened at the Conclave _without_ any more dramatic escape attempts." Leliana made sure that the last part of her statement contained an annoyed, as well as scolding, tone. As surprised and caught off guard as she had been, Leliana couldn't believe how reckless the now-unshackled woman had acted, thinking she could break out of the cell and take out six guards as well as a Seeker. Despite this, she hoped that this mystery woman would be more reasonable in a situation like this than Cassandra. The woman simply glared at Leliana, clearly communicating that the bard had wounded her pride. "I promise you, you will not face summary execution if you cooperate." She hoped the offer would make the woman more palpable to talk, but to no apparent avail. As for the other woman, Leliana couldn't tell since her black armored compatriot was in the way.

As the stare-off continued, Leliana couldn't help but think about how almost everything about the armored warrior had been a complete mystery since they had found her and her companion, the woman identified as Kathryne, at the crater where the Temple of Sacred Ashes once stood. The armor alone had been frightening enough to keep soldiers from even initially going _near _her, as many considered her to be a demon that had merged with a Templar. But Leliana knew from her journeys with the Hero of Ferelden during the Fifth Blight that demons didn't wear armor, let alone anything as ornate as what this mystery woman wore. Undead Revenants, on the other hand, certainly did wear armor, but, again, nothing like what the woman wore.

Though few had really noticed it, the buckle on the woman's belt had caught Leliana's eye. It wasn't surprising it hadn't caught much attention since it was as black as the rest of the armor, evading all but Leliana's keen eyes. To her surprise, and near shock, it was shaped like a dragon. Her knee-jerk reaction was assuming that the woman was from Tevinter, since any dragon insignias usually came out of the Imperium. However, upon closer inspection, the actual design was anything _but_ Tevinter. The traditional design of the Imperium's dragon insignia was a long, serpentine, figure that resembled a snake more than a dragon. This emblem, on the other hand, was less curved and more angular in design. While the head and neck retained the serpentine flow, the main body was straight, tilted at a slight angle, and the tail came down in a zig-zag, ending in a tail point with only one corner touching the tail. The wings, another aspect that set the design apart from Tevinter, had sharply defined angles at where they bent, making the emblem appear like a diamond without top and bottom points. The emblem itself seemed to emit an aura of what Leliana could only describe as regal in nature. The more she studied it, the more her curiosity was piqued. Due to Haven's lack of a formal library, Leliana had asked Josephine to touch base with her contacts at the universities in Antiva and Orlais, hoping one of them could identify the symbol. Even though the design didn't _look_ Tevinter, she had to be sure this wasn't an assassin guild from the Imperium or possibly another dragon-worshipping cult. She still remembered the so-called "Cult of Andraste" from her time with the Hero of Ferelden, who believed that a High Dragon was a reincarnation of Andrsate herself.

Her weapons had also given several pause. Two swords of very different makes had been found on the woman's body. The first was the more disturbing of the two. To call it _wicked_ or _cruel_ would have been a major understatement. It was made of the same black metal as its owner's armor as well as retained the same eerie red glow and demonic aesthetics. The pommel and the guard curved toward each other, forming a partial handguard for the wielder. The handle itself was slightly curved, as was the entirety of the blade. But the most disturbing feature of it was the row of cruel, serrated, teeth running up the upper half of the blade, all the way to the curved point. Though she never showed it in company, Leliana had secretly shuddered just thinking about the kind of damage a sword like that could do to an opponent. It just seemed to emit an aura of dread, as if to say that the sword itself took a sadistic pleasure in the suffering of those it brought death to.

The other sword found on the woman was a whole other mystery unto itself. At a glance, it looked like a normal sword; a straight blade with a visible full, a defined point, and an ornate hilt. But what made the sword stand out was the strange, radiant, glow that was emitted from the orb that replaced the guard and ran all the way up the full in a line. The day after the two women had been discovered, Leliana had decided to pick up the sword, as it was significantly less menacing than its counterpart. It was slightly lighter than a normal sword, and surprisingly warm to the touch. What was truly interesting, however, was the actual nature of the heat coming from the blade's hilt. It wasn't scalding at all, but rather a soothing, almost calming, warmth. She had decided to send a private inquiry to Orzammar regarding types of enchantments and there effects, hoping she could find something that could shed light on the sword's strange properties.

And now this strange power that allowed her to become a spirit. Leliana certainly didn't consider herself an expert when it came to the arcane arts, but didn't look like any type of magic she had seen. It certainly conflicted with what Solas, the elven apostate who had wandered into the camp two days ago to offer his assistance with the breach, had said regarding whether or not she was a mage. She remembered the elven mage saying that he detected absolutely no connection to the fade from either woman. Yet, here in front of her was someone who could transform into a spirit and then back into a normal human. Add to that her apparent skill as a warrior and the fact she could somehow speak common tounge, and Leliana had a puzzle where none of the pieces seemed to connect. There was only one person who could provide the missing pieces to this confusing puzzle, and she was staring Leliana right in the eye.

_Maker, please let her see reason_, Leliana silently prayed.

Finally, after several long, tense, seconds, the woman closed her eyes and let out a long, somewhat defeated sigh, speaking as she reopened her eyes. "All right." she said in resignation. Lowering her sword ever so slowly, she added in a seething growl, "But if this is a trick, know that I will have your head for it."

Allowing the threat to bounce off of her, Leliana was relieved that the woman was willing to cooperate and that the tense situation had become somewhat manageable. However, the fact she had not relaxed her grip on her sword told the former bard that the woman still did not trust her. It wasn't perfect, but given the circumstances, Leliana could understand the woman's caution.

"I don't remember much, but I'd be willing to share what I can," came the voice of Kathryne, who, until now, had been silent throughout the confrontation between Cassandra and the armored woman. The woman stepped to her left, allowing Kathryne to be visibly seen by everyone as well as keep her front to everyone else in the room. _Clever move_, Leliana thought with a slight hint of amusement. The situation somewhat reminded her of the grand Game of Orlesian politics, where every move was carefully calculated and made with a long term goal in mind. And the prizes this game had to offer were information for her and survival for the prisoners. Unlike the Game, however, this was a scenario where both parties could walk away with what they wanted, provided that no one took any further sword swings, of course.

Returning from her brief thought, Leliana motioned for Kathryne to speak, keen to learn what caused the explosion at the temple as well as what happened to Justinia. "I remember being in a meeting chamber with the rest of the Free March delegates," Kathryne began, the shakiness in her voice not even remotely hidden. "Then, Senna woke me up," she continued, motioning her head toward the black armored woman, "and we were…I don't know where we were. Then there were these…things that attacked us, chased us up a hill. And then…a woman?" The uncertainty and confusion in Kathryne's voice was not lost on anyone in the room, especially not Leliana. "A woman?" Leliana asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms across her chest. She remembered that several of the soldiers who had seen the prisoners emerge from a portal at the site of the Breach had reported a third woman behind them. _A spirit from the Fade maybe_? Every piece of information seemed to create more questions than answers for the spymaster, who prided herself on knowing everything possible about everything and everyone of importance.

It was at this moment that Leliana once again turned her gaze toward the woman now identified as 'Senna,' replaying the name in her mind over and over again. _Senna. So that's your name._ It didn't sound Orlesian or Fereldan, she knew that for certain. The other possibilities included the Free Marches or Nevarra. Antiva was a possibility, but Leliana quickly stopped that line of thought since it would be highly unlikely that a woman from Antiva would be as lethally skilled with a sword as this woman clearly was. She also shot down the idea of the Antivan Crows, since heavy arms and armor definitely were not the style of the infamous order of assassins. And she still wasn't ruling out Tevinter as an option, although she was starting to believe that this 'Senna' was a different breed of human altogether. Excluding her apparel, everything about her seemed so…foreign. Her mannerisms, her facial structure, even her accent all supported her theory. Leliana was becoming more and more convinced by the second that there were, in fact, more elements at work here than she and Cassandra had originally thought.

"And what of you?" Leliana asked pointedly at Senna. "What is your account of what happened at the Conclave?" Secretly, she was already predicting what the woman's response would be. And, if it was what she thought it would be, it would confirm her suspicions. But she had to be certain, and the only way to find out was to hear it from Senna's own words.

"I don't know anything about this 'Conclave' all of you keep referring to." Senna began matter-of-factly. "But what I _do _remember is that I had just killed a _very_ powerful dragon, who promptly exploded in my face upon death, sending me falling into a bottomless abyss."

_A dragon slayer_? Now that was an avenue that Leliana hadn't even considered. Until the start of the Dragon Age, dragons hadn't been seen in sizable numbers since the Steel Age, when Nevarran dragon hunters had supposedly hunted them to extinction. Their return had given several pause, and made travelers more than a little hesitant to explore ruins. So it made sense that some groups would form to try and uproot dragons again, finish what the Nevarran hunting parties of old had begun. If anything, her surprising answer had at least confirmed what Leliana had suspected; there were other elements at work. What she couldn't figure out, though, was what.

Senna's answer also possibly explained the buckle, but she had not heard of any major dragon-hunting groups, let alone any that had formed a coherent organization. Even Cassandra could attest to the fact that Nevarra's glory days of dragon-hunting were long behind it. _So what does all of this mean?_ Leliana still didn't have the pieces she needed to put together the puzzle of who this 'Senna' was, and it was internally frustrating her to no end.

Senna's resumed speech brought Leliana out of her musings. "The next thing I know," she continued, pausing for a brief moment as though contemplating her next words, "I woke up in gods-know-where, and stumbled upon Kathryne. The rest mirrors what Kathryne said to the letter."

The pause, as well as the forced finality in her voice, caused Leliana to slightly narrow her eyes. _You're hiding something, but what?_ The spymaster couldn't help but wonder what was important enough to withhold in the face of a murder accusation. However, something else Senna had said quickly occupied Leliana's thoughts. _Gods?_ Pagan faiths that worshipped multiple deities were all but extinct among the races of humans across Thedas. The only groups who still worshipped any type of polytheistic pantheon were the Avvar in the Kocari Wilds, and the Dalish Elves. Once more, Leliana found herself with more questions than answers.

"Leliana, a private word please?" Cassandra's voice brought Leliana back to the matter at hand. She turned around and walked with Cassandra briefly to the doorway, just out of earshot. Internally, Leliana let out a mental sigh of relief as she was more than a little relieved to see that Cassandra had somewhat calmed down, which made a peaceful resolution to the situation much more possible than it initially had been.

"What are your thoughts on them?" Cassandra asked in a somewhat hushed voice. Her tone expressed a mix of both curiosity as well as the professional inquisitiveness that one could expect from a Seeker.

"It is difficult to say. Both accounts have the same ending, yet different beginnings." Leliana in the same hushed voice. "Kathryne's story actually places her at the Conclave, but I'm not sure what to believe about Senna's. The memory loss in both accounts is curious as well." In truth, Senna's story did sound far-fetched. Even Leliana found it hard to believe that someone could kill a dragon single-handedly. And then for it to _explode_? She had never heard of any such occurrence, even when the Archdemon died at the end of the Fifth Blight. But the part she found completely ludicrous was that she fell into a bottomless abyss, only to magically appear after the explosion that destroyed the Conclave. But, then again, nothing about this woman made sense. And that, in a very strange way, made her story plausible.

"She is a mystery, indeed. And clearly hiding something," the Seeker responded in agreement. Leliana wasn't surprised in the least that Cassandra had caught Senna's pause earlier. However, she was very surprised by what the she said next.

"But I do not believe either of them are behind Justinia's death."

That caused both of Leliana's eyebrows to shoot up with surprise. Since they had first met years ago, Leliana knew that Cassandra was not one prone to radical changes of heart. At least, not without good reason.

As if reading her mind, Cassandra began to elaborate, "As much as I hate to admit it, 'Senna' does not have the demeanor nor the tools of an assassin. Cunning, brash, and reckless, yes, but she does not rub off on me as someone skilled in subtly and stealth." Leliana couldn't help but give Cassandra a sarcastic look that said 'I wonder who that reminds me of.' Cassandra just ignored it and continued her explanation. "The weapons we found on her are _definitely_ not the first tools an assassin would choose for a high-profile assassination. Her power, however, is something beyond my understanding. Either Solas lied to us, or there really is more going on here than we know. What's more, I couldn't find any deception in her words, despite how ludicrous some of them are."

Leliana was in whole-hearted agreement with her colleague, and nodded in agreement. Like Cassandra, she couldn't find any duplicity or lies in Senna's words. Having spent years as a bard in Orlais, where lies and duplicity occurred on a daily basis, Leliana was especially skilled in being able to tell whether someone was telling the truth, or falsifying it. But all her years of experience told her that Senna was, indeed, not lying to them. Hiding something, yes, but not lying.

"As for Kathryne," Cassandra resumed, "there were no weapons found on her. And I highly doubt any of the city-states in the Free Marches would make an attempt on the Divine's life, given history and the events that transpired in Kirkwall."

Leliana grimly agreed. The Free Marches marked as far south as the Qunari had been able to reach when they had launched their massive invasion of Thedas during the Steel Age. Kirkwall and Starkhaven, in particular, had been subject to brutal naval invasions by the Qunari fleet. Only the combined power of every human nation in Thedas, as well as the three Exalted Marches declared by both the White and Black Divines that would define the Storm Age, proved enough to drive the Qunari back to the northern coastline of Thedas, liberating the Free Marches from the grip of the Qun. Tevinter had been the only nation that refused peace with the Qunari and, as a result, remained at war with Par Vollen to this day.

As for the uprising in Kirkwall that had set off the Mage-Templar war, Leliana knew all too well that Kirkwall's Circle, and by extension its Templars, had an extremely shady history. Abuses of power by the Templars, reports of senior circle mages secretly dabbling in blood magic, and more all played a part in setting off the uprising. Add to the fact that Kirkwall itself was a massive weak point in the Veil, and it was an almost perfect storm. Naturally, the city-states of the Free Marches wanted peace restored to their lands following the outbreak of the war and, as a result, had no interest in perpetuating it by killing Justinia, let alone cause an explosion powerful enough to tear open a massive hole in the sky.

Relieved that Cassandra finally agreed with her, Leliana decided it was time decide their next actions. "Since we both agree that something else is at work, are you proposing we take them into the valley?" Cassandra nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes. If the mark we found on their left hands is in fact the key to closing the Breach, then there is only one way to find out for certain."

Leliana concurred. From his observations, Solas had theorized that the marks on Senna and Kathryne's hands may, in fact, be able to seal the Breach, along with the smaller rifts spread throughout the valley. Despite the fact that the valley was a war zone, taking both Senna and Kathryne into the valley was the only way to know for certain if Solas was correct. However, there was one outstanding issue that had been gnawing at Leliana since they started putting the plan together.

"This a start, but we still need to convince them to come with us," Leliana said, voicing her thoughts. "I believe Kathryne would be the most palpable to the idea, but whether or not Senna agrees will be the true deciding factor. She doesn't trust us, and I actually don't blame her."

"If they agree to help us, all I can promise them is a trial. Anything beyond that is out of my control," Cassandra replied, clearly unfazed by Leliana's reference to her earlier threats that set off the confrontation and near bloodbath. "However," she continued, "we cannot take them through Haven if they are armed. There's no telling how the people will react if they saw them walking free and with weapons."

As much as she didn't want to dump fuel on the fire, Leliana had to agree that Senna, a prisoner and criminal as far as everyone in Haven was concerned, walking out of the chantry armed would cause more harm than good, regardless if she and Cassandra was present. She knew that this would definitely make any attempt to earn Senna's cooperation more difficult than it already would be, but it was the only chance of possible finding out what caused the Breach. _And Justinia's fate,_ Leliana thought mournfully.

After a few moments of contemplation, an idea formed in Leliana's mind. "Perhaps only to the bridge?" Leliana proposed. "I could move ahead of the group to the forward camp and inform them of our plan. Meanwhile, you lead them through the valley. Senna's proven that she's more than capable of defending herself. I am not sure what martial skills Kathryne possesses, if any, but two unarmed persons in a war zone is a disaster waiting to happen." Then, with the utmost sincerity, she added, "I mean no offence to your skill, Cassandra, but you can't honestly expect to protect them both by yourself with everything going on in the valley."

"As much as I hate to admit it, you are right," Cassandra conceded. "It would be foolish to expect both of them to walk into the valley expecting only me to protect them."

Glancing to her left at the two prisoners watching them through the doorway, Leliana said, "Well, I think we have kept our audience waiting long enough, don't you think?"

"What do you think they're talking about?"

Shaking her head like she had been dragged out of a trance, Senna turned her head toward Kathryne. She had been focusing on studying Cassandra and Leliana's body language for the past several minutes, attempting to discern what they were discussing. Of course, she had also been berating herself for her premature escape attempt. _You_ _don't know where you are, who you're up against_, _nor if your magic even works. And to top it all off, you're probably still injured from fighting Alduin. Senna, what were you thinking?_ She already knew why she why acted like she had; she saw a direct solution in front of her and thought it was the best one. That, and she had never been keen on guile and subterfuge. It was probably the main reason she and Mjol had always gotten along well in their journeys across Skyrim, especially when descending into ancient Nord and Dwemer ruins. And it was also what had nearly resulted in her death numerous times at the hands of everything from Dwarven Centurions, Drauger Deathlords, and the various traps in the ruins she had visited. _Guess that's the Nord side of me coming out_, she thought with a hint of amusement as she briefly recalled how many times her mother had been called, and acted, bull-headed and brash.

Pushing her self-administered scolding out of her mind, she turned her attention back to Kathryne's question. "My guess? I bet they're deciding what to do with us next." she responded while shrugging her shoulders, which she couldn't deny were still emitting twinges of pain. She was thankful her large shoulder paldrons didn't fully rest on her shoulders or her pain would probably be much worse. It was almost as bad as her growing frustration at not knowing what would come next, which was only worsened by the tension that lingered in the air. "What about you? What are your thoughts?"

"Same as you." Kathryne replied, the shakiness that had been present in her voice earlier now absent. "I also think Leliana may have convinced Cassandra to give us the benefit of the doubt. If so, our odds at living just went up."

Senna raised her right eyebrow at that. "You really think that?" Kathryne gave a confident nod. Senna turned her head back toward the doorway. "I hope you're right, but Cassandra looks ready for an execution regardless."

"Maybe if you hadn't escalated things, we wouldn't have to worry about that, don't you think?" Kathryne replied sharply. That earned her a sideways glare from Senna, who really did not want any more reminders about her reckless actions minutes earlier.

Before Senna could come up with a retort, however, she saw their 'hosts' striding back into the room. _Well, here comes our judgement_, she thought morbidly. Swapping sword-wielding hands, she reached down brought her right hand under Kathryne's right armpit, being careful not to stab her with the gauntlet's claws, and gave a pull upwards.

"Come on. Let's get you up," Senna commanded. "Best not keep the Gods waiting if it's our time." She wanted the two of them to present a unified presence toward Leliana and Cassandra, regardless of what they had to say. By standing together, she hoped that both she and Kathryne would be seen as equals, not just prisoners. That, and Senna figured Kathryne's legs had to be almost numb from sitting in that kneeling position for so long. If something important was about to happen, Senna reasoned both of them needed to be ready to move at a moment's notice.

Kathryne needed no further encouragement as she began to pull herself, pushing down against Senna's hand as she pushed up with her left leg and brought her right up. As Kathryne steadied herself, confirming the reduced blood flow in her legs, Senna looked up to see the two opposing women drawing closer, their faces now fully illuminated by the dim torchlight of the cell.

Cassandra turned her head toward the guards, who had been keeping their distance from Senna and Kathryne since Leliana's intervention, and said, "Leave us. Go to the town perimeter." Without any question, the guards sheathed their weapons and filed out of the cell, heading down the dimly lit corridor beyond the doorway, with a few heading around Senna to help their incapacitated comrades. As the last guard left the cell, Senna once again fixed her gaze on their counterparts. Her lips were pursed at the oppressive uncertainty that now lingering in the air, wondering if she really was here to save this world, or to die on it as punishment. _Akatosh wouldn't lie to one of his own blood-children, would he?_ As aloof as the Divines were, they weren't the Daedra. And Akatosh had even said himself Alduin needed to be put down. But, try as she might, Senna just couldn't banish the doubt from her mind.

"We have discussed what each of you have said, and have decided to give you a chance to prove your innocence," Leliana said semi-formally, breaking the tense silence in the chamber.

"You believe us? That we we're innocent?" Kathryne asked, surprise not even remotely hidden.

"Yes." Cassandra replied. "We both believe that there may be more at work here than we originally thought."

_Well, that's a relief,_ Senna thought as she allowed herself to relax a little thanks to the reduced uncertainty in the air. What she didn't know, however was what this 'chance' entailed.

"But what does this 'chance' exactly entail?" Senna asked, voicing her thoughts.

"It…would be easier to show you than to try and explain it." Cassandra explained. "What I _can_ say, however, is that it relates to the mark we found on both of you."

Glancing down at her hand once more, Senna looked thoughtfully at the sickly green lines pulsating through her hand. _So this thing might have a use? _While she still had no clue as to what this 'mark' was or how it ended up on both her and Kathryne, if this mark was the key to proving her innocence as well as Kathryne's, she wasn't going to pass it up.

However, her brow started to furrow as another thought appeared in her mind that she had to voice. "There's a catch though, isn't there?" she inquired. Experience, as well as her bizarre encounter with Sheogorath, had taught her that deals like this didn't come without one or two strings attached.

Leliana took the opportunity to rejoin the conversation. "The people of Haven, the village we are currently in, are currently very...temperamental right now. As far as they are concerned, both of you are still prisoners and criminals of a heinous crime." She paused for a moment, and Senna could see lines of internal debate playing across Leliana's face. Leliana inhaled sharply and continued her delivery of the proposition, "If they saw either of you walk out of here armed, even with us in company, the results would be… disastrous to put it lightly."

Senna was about to object when Leliana delivered one last piece of information. "Once you reach the bridge outside of the town, we will remove your binds and your sword will be returned."

"I think this is the best option we have right now Senna," Kathryne said, trying to make her partner more palpable to the idea.

Senna looked back down at her hand and furrowed her brow. As much as she didn't want to admit it, there weren't any other practical options left on the table. Even though part of her mind kept telling her this was a trick, Senna couldn't ignore the fact that Leliana had made no aggressive threats toward her or Kathryne. As to whether she had an ulterior motive, she most certainly did. Whatever her ulterior motive was, it clearly wasn't malevolent in nature, which made the proposed deal sound better than it initially had.

For whatever reason she would never understand, her mind drifted back to the day she approached Jarl Balgruff with her plan to trap Odahving in Dragonsreach. To say Whiterun's Jarl had been in shock would not have done his reaction justice in the slightest. Even after explaining to him that Alduin had returned and that this was the key to hunting him down, it was still a major leap of faith for him to take, especially when he had worked so hard to keep dragons _out_ of his city. _And now here I am being asked to take a major leap of faith myself. Fate really does have an interesting sense of humor. _

After a few more seconds of thought, Senna finally replied. "All right, you've got yourself a deal." And with that, she brought her sword up and held it out in both her hands. Cassandra needed no further prompting and strode toward Senna and took the sword, albeit brusquely, and placed it underneath the shield she carried on her back. As she began to bind Senna's hands, Senna glanced over and saw that Leliana had removed the metal shackles on Kathryne's hands and was also replacing them with rope.

When they were finished, Leliana wordlessly turned around and exited the cell. As though sensing the oncoming question from both women, Cassandra said, "Leliana is moving ahead of us toward our forward camp in the valley."

As Cassandra began to usher both 'prisoners' toward the door, Kathryne asked, "What exactly did happen at the Conclave?"

A look of sorrow appeared on Cassandra's face as she replied, "As I said earlier, it would be easier to show you."

They passed through a long, dimly lit hallway with several cells on each side. At the end of the hallway was a set of stairs that traveled up to a single door. As Senna followed Cassandra through the door, she couldn't help but be surprised at the stark contrast to her surroundings earlier. The chamber they had entered looked very ornate, a red carpet running the chamber's length as well as several banners that hung from the ceiling multiple columns on either side. The sun emblem on the banners actually looked remarkably similar to the one on Cassandra's breastplate, except this one had no eye on it and the center was very pronounced, like a true sun. It looked similar to the sun-shaped shrines to Auriel that the Snow Elves worshipped at, except that the sun Senna was looking at had longer rays protruding from it. For a moment, Senna wondered if these people worshipped the sun. It wouldn't surprise her, since Akatosh took the form of the sun back in Nirn, hence why he headed the pantheon of nearly every race in Tamriel. Perhaps one of the Aedra who built this world had taken the form of the sun and was the head of their pantheon.

Her thoughts were interrupted as they exited the doors leading out of the building. What lay outside left Senna too shocked for words. A great rift lay in the sky just over the snow-covered mountains in the distance, sickly green energy pouring down onto the earth below. To Senna, it looked like something straight out of the pages of _The Oblivion Crisis_. Even though it had been 200 years since Mehrunes Dagon's failed attempt to conquer Tamriel, just reading about it could terrify just about anyone with the fact that Tamriel almost came to an end. Legions of monsters and heavily armored dremora soldiers pouring forth from their Oblivion gates, destroying everything and slaughtering everyone in their path all across Tamriel. Some unfortunate souls had even been dragged back into the Deadlands, where they were they became the eternal slaves of its dremora lords and even Mehrunes Dagon himself.

As she continued to stare in shock and horror at what lay before her, she couldn't help but think of the great tragedy wrought by the Oblivion Crisis; the death and final sacrifice of the Septim dynasty. No matter how many times she had read the various accounts of the crisis, she still found it difficult to read the final pages that described Martin Septim's ultimate sacrifice to defeat Dagon and banish him and his legions back to the Deadlands, forevermore sealing the barrier between Nirn and Oblivion. Even to this day, the petrified form of Martin Septim as Akatosh's avatar still stood in the Imperial City among the ruins of the Temple of The One, a constant reminder of the final sacrifice made by the bloodline that had brought peace and stability to all of Tamriel for nearly 500 years. As the parallels continued to flood her mind, one question ate away at Senna's mind as well as her soul. _Would I be willing to make that kind of sacrifice as well?_ Before traveling to Sovengarde to slay Alduin, Senna had made peace with the fact that the doom-driven errand she was about to embark on would most likely claim her life, in victory or defeat. Then Akatosh saved her and brought her here, changing everything. She couldn't help but wonder if she could face death with that kind of certainty and resolve again.

Cassandra's words brought the shocked Dragonborn out of her thoughts. "We call it The Breach." _The Breach._ Senna allowed the title to echo off the walls in her mind. But what she didn't know was where this 'breach' lead to. It certainly didn't look like an Oblivion gate, not that she had ever seen one. But she knew enough to know that if it did lead to one of Oblivion's realms, this whole area would've been overrun a long time ago, especially if it lead to the Deadlands, Mehrunes Dagon's realm, or Coldharbor, the domain of Molag Bal, the Lord of Domination.

"And it is not only one," Cassandra continued, "just the largest."

_More than one? Now this is _really _starting to sound like another Oblivion Crisis,_ Senna thought morbidly. As she remained transfixed on the Breach, she wondered if this rift was what was causing this world's earth-bones to decay, or even accelerating it. Either way, that thing had to be sealed if she was to have any hope of saving Nirn.

"What could have done this?" Kathryne asked, awe and horror present for all to see.

"A massive explosion that destroyed the Temple of Sacred ashes and tore open the veil between our world and the realm beyond," the Seeker responded.

"An explosion did _that_?!" In all her years of studying connections between different planes of existence, not once had Senna heard of someone using an explosion of any kind to force open a rift to Atherius, Oblivion, or any other plane of existence. It wasn't that she thought it was impossible, she had just never heard anyone ever talk about such a means to cross over between planes of existence. Typically, one would use some sort of ritual, such as the one Valerica had created to enter the Soul Cairn, to enter another plane. If this explosion did create the Breach, then there had to be something arcane at the heart of hit for it to have that kind of power.

"Yes," Cassandra began. "And unless we act, it may grow until it swallows the world. Even now, the Breach grows by the hour."

As Cassandra spoke, Senna could feel the determination that had guided her through her journeys in Skyrim coursing through her again as she gazed once more at the massive rift. _We need to get that thing sealed. I can't afford to fail my mission._

Cassandra continued to speak, "We believe that mark that was found on both of you may be the key to sealing the Breach."

"But how do we know if our marks are connected to it or not?" Kathryne asked.

Suddenly, a large fluctuation erupted from the Breach. As if on prompt, the mark on both prisoners violently flared, causing both women to collapse to their knees while screaming in pain. Senna had never in all her travels experienced anything that could cause this much physical pain. It was as though someone was stabbing her hand with a thousand small, flaming, daggers. As breaths of stifled pain hissed through her clenched teeth, she looked to her right to see Kathryne not fairing any better. Senna almost wanted to shoot her a look that said 'You just had to ask,' but pushed that out of her head since it wouldn't help the situation.

As both women struggled to regain their breath, Cassandra kneeled down to their level and spoke once more.

"Each time the Breach expands, your marks spread." She paused for a moment, morbid hesitation painted all over her face, before continuing, "And they are killing both of you."

That last sentence terrified Senna to her core. Sealing the Breach just became even more imperative than it already was. If she died, both this world and Nirn would be doomed. And she would not allow that to happen, not while she still drew breath. Looking at Kathryne once more, Senna saw her staring right back, her eyes filled with the same determination that now filled Senna's. Although no words were exchanged, each one knew what the other was thinking.

Looking back at Cassandra, Kathryne said, "If this mark can seal that Breach, then we have no time to waste."

A look of hope appeared on Cassandra's face. "Then you really do wish to help us?"

"Count me in as well," Senna declared, injecting herself into the conversation. Her companions looked at her before she continued. "I'm not going to sit around while the world burns."

The hope in Cassandra's face, although intermixed with caution, only increased as she helped Kahtryne to her feet. Senna was able to pull herself up without assistance since this wasn't the first time she had been in binds. As the group descended down the small hill into the town proper, Senna looked to her left and saw soldiers and townsfolk lined up along the road, all of them glaring and jeering at them. _Leliana really wasn't joking when she said 'temperamental,'_ Senna thought dryly as she observed the increasingly malicious mob along the road. She still didn't like it, but she understood now why it would have been a very bad idea for her to walk out of the building armed.

"The people have already decided your guilt," Cassandra spoke as they made their way down the winding roads of Haven, "They need it."

Senna glanced over toward Kathryne, who was trying to do her best to maintain her composure in the face of jeers and angry accusations thrown at them by the crowd, but she could see that her companion was showing lines of fear across her face. Truth be told, Senna found herself struggling to keep her composure in the face of the mob as well, only she was close to challenging anyone in the mob to come out and fight her. Knowing where that line of thought usually landed her, she decided to find something to distract her increasingly agitated nerves.

"Does this have anything to do with the 'Justinia' you spoke of before," Senna asked aloud, voicing her thoughts and trying to keep her mind off of ways to shut the crowd up.

"Yes," Cassandra replied, abliet mournfully. "The people of Haven mourn the death of Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry."

As Cassandra spoke, a gatehouse came into view, with a pair of guards flanking it on each side. Senna was filled with relief at the sight of the gate as it gave her something to make the increasingly vulgar insults thrown at her and Kathryne bearable. Cassandra speaking had helped, but it didn't help drown out the crowd. Senna had even been tempted to summon a Frost Atronach in the middle of the crowd after someone repeatedly called her and Kathryne 'murderous whores.' Her magika had recovered to the point that she could summon at least one Storm Atronach as well as a Frost Atronach. _I'd love to see how tough that milk-drinking bastard is when he's looking at a ten foot ice monster_. Fortunately, common sense, as well as seeing the exit to the town, saved her from any further rash action.

Cassandra's resumed speaking brought Senna out of her thoughts. "The Conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between Mages and Templars. She brought their leaders together. Now they are dead."

This bit of information made Senna's brow furrow. _Are mages treated differently in this world? And what's a 'Templar?' Is it some kind of soldier?_ She hoped that this world saw magic the same way it was seen in Tamriel. While mages were regarded with skepticism in Skyrim, they were still widely respected in most regions of Tamriel. But if magic was seen differently here, Senna would have to hold her powers in reserve, especially considering that the type of magic she primarily practiced wasn't exactly fully welcomed with open arms in most parts of Tamriel. While Conjuration magic did have practical and versatile applications in the form of bound weapons, its true backbone would always be summoning daedra to fight on one's behalf, which brought up quite a few ethical debates among Tamriel's various arcane scholars. Add to the fact that necromancy fell under the Conjuration school, and the result was perhaps one of the most hotly debated topics in Tamriel's academic circles. And the last thing Senna wanted to create was another reason for the people of this world to not trust her, or even want her dead.

So engrossed was Senna in her thoughts, she realized she had tuned out Cassandra and quickly saw that they had already passed through the town gate. In front of them lay another gate that was promptly opened as soon as they approached. Beyond lay a small, cobblestone, bridge joining the path from Haven to another gate at the end. The bridge was occupied by a dozen or so soldiers, with assorted braziers, crates, and weapon racks lined along the edges. They travelled a few feet away from the gate before stopping. Cassandra moved in front of them, turning around with a small knife clenched tightly in her right hand. Her face was full of hesitation, displaying a very heated internal debate. Senna couldn't blame her. Cassandra had two complete unknowns in her charge and had essentially agreed to as much a leap of faith as much as Senna had.

"I pray this is the right decision," Cassandra said, her voice laced with doubt, as she stepped toward Senna. With one smooth motion, she sliced the rope around Senna's wrists, a small scraping sound made as the knife briefly made contact with Senna's daedric gauntlet. As she moved her once-again freed wrists, Senna watched as Cassandra performed the same motion with Kathryne. Then, ever so hesitantly, Cassandra reached behind her and pulled out the sword Senna had 'borrowed' from the hapless guard she had assaulted in the cell. Holding it gingerly by the edges, she held it out toward Senna. Without any further exchange of words, Senna reached out and took the sword by the hilt and placed in her belt's sheath, which normally held her daedric sword.

"Where exactly are we going from here?" Kathryne asked.

"Into the valley. Before we reach the forward camp, where most of our forces are stationed, your marks must be tested on something smaller than the Breach," Cassandra explained.

"One of the smaller rifts you spoke of, I'm guessing?" Kathryne inquired.

Cassandra nodded her head, confirming that Kathryne had guessed right. Turning back toward the bridge, the trio began to make their way to the other side, with Senna and Kathryne matching Cassandra's hurried pace. As they neared the other side, Senna looked once more at the Breach, and saw what appeared to be green meteors falling from the sky. As she took in the scene, she couldn't help but be reminded of the Storm Call shout Alduin used to rain fireballs from the heavens, and how it had turned Helgan into a ruin.

"Open the gates! We're heading into the valley!"

Cassandra's command tore Senna from her seconds-long glance at the Breach before following her companions through the gate. Ahead lay a snow-covered path filled with barricades, some ever partially on fire. They had barely walked ten feet when a group of panicked soldiers came sprinting toward them, panic displayed for all to see.

"Fall back! The valley is lost!" one of the soldiers yelled as the sprinted past the three women back toward the safety of Haven. The sight of the fleeing soldiers slightly unnerved Senna about what lay ahead in the valley. As much as she wanted to think of them as cowards, she knew all soldiers, no matter how will trained or disciplined, had their breaking points. Even the legionnaires at Helgan had fled in the wake of Alduin's rampage. There were simply sights no amount of training or experience could prepare anyone for.

At the end of the short path lay another bridge, laid out in a similar manner as the first. Before they could make it across the bridge, a meteor slammed into the bridge. With no time to race back to the other side, the trio helplessly collapsed down onto the frozen lake below. When she finally stopped tumbling, Senna was greeted with the familiar sensation of ice against her face. As she opened her eyes, her vision became slightly impaired and her ears began to mercilessly ring. Without warning, she felt two pairs of hands reach under her armpits and hoist her clumsily up to her feet.

Stumbling around slightly as she shook off the ringing in her ears, she started to hear voices next to her. Looking to her left and right, she saw both Kathryne and Cassandra alive and well, though with a few minor cuts and bruises from the fall.

"…are you okay? Senna?" Kathryne's voice was barely audible over the ringing in her ears, but Senna heard it well enough that she was able to shake off enough of the disorientation to respond.

"I'm fine. Just a little shaken from the fall," the Dragonborn responded as she flexed her hands and elbows to make sure there was no damage to her arms. She was actually surprised she hadn't hurt anything else, despite how short of a drop it had been. That, and she guessed that her armor had absorbed most of the impact from the fall.

"There's another path across the lake," Cassandra spoke, clearly trying to refocus the group on the task at hand. "It leads into the valley proper and…"

Before Cassandra could continue, another meteor impacted a few yards away from them. Senna thought that the impact would have shattered the ice. Instead, a ghastly creature emerged from the sickly green aura. The features Senna was able to make out, given the long distance between her and the creature, were that it was hunched over, had no discernable feet, and long, clawed, hands.

Drawing her sword and shield, Cassandra took up a classic defensive posture, ready to engage the creature. As she drew her own sword, Senna saw a look of fury and recognition on Cassandra's face. Clearly, she had encountered and fought this type of creature before, whatever it was. Senna just hoped that this thing was killable, or at least could be banished.

"Stay with Kathryne," Cassandra commanded, looking Senna in the eyes. "I'll deal with this monster." Senna gave a simple nod of acknowledgement, and watched as Cassandra charged the creature head on.

As the fight began, she suddenly saw green flames erupt in front of her. Jumping back, she watched as _another _of the same creature she saw fighting Cassandra crawl out of the ground in front of her. Now that it was up close, Senna had a _very _clear view of what it looked like. Its 'face,' if it could be called that, was devoid of features except two lifeless, white, eyes. Hanging over its body was some kind of tattered shawl, and it was not hunched over as Senna had originally thought. Rather, it seemed to have a natural arch in its back. It also had no feet, but rather just a long trunk of almost violet body mass that glided over the surface of the ice. Overall, it had to be the most disturbing creature Senna had seen. It even made the Falmer seem normal by comparison.

"Stay by the rubble," she commanded Kathryne as the creature advanced surprisingly quickly toward her.

The creature raised its claws as it closed in, clearly intending to do a downward slash. As its claws began to come down, Senna side-stepped the attack to the right, slashing its left torso as she moved. Enraged, the creature attempted to backhand Senna with its left hand. Senna had no time to dodge, so she slashed upward at the creature's arm. The creature reeled back as Senna's blade tore through its 'flesh.' Deciding to press the attack, Senna rushed toward the creature's midsection with the clear intent of driving her sword into the creature's chest. Before she could deliver the fatal blow, however, the creature's right claw came down on her left arm. Her left pauldron absorbed part of the blow's momentum, but it still had enough to travel down and tear into Senna's unarmored left forearm. Shrieking in pain, Senna stumbled back as she tried to regain her footing as well as push through the shearing pain now in her left forearm.

Before the creature could press its advantage over its opponent, an arrow embedded itself right in the middle of its neck, causing it to roar in pain. Not a moment later, another arrow impacted the creature, this time at the base of its neck. Seeing the distraction, Senna charged at the monster, driving her sword straight into its chest. Determined to not go down without a fight, the monster tried to claw at Senna's back, but it did little more than leave minor scratches on the Dragonborn's tough daedric armor.

Suddenly, the creature ceased to move, and collapsed into a puddle of shadow as it faded away. Looking around for her savior, Senna saw Kathryne standing by the rubble with a bow in her left hand a quiver strapped to her back. _And I thought I was full of surprises,_ Senna thought with a mix of humor and relief at the fact that her fellow 'prisoner,' if they could even be called that anymore, actually had skill in battle. While she could hold her own against large enemies with the bound bow, Senna had never considered herself an expert when it came to archery. Swordplay and magic had always been her areas of martial expertise. And having a ranged specialist in the group would be a great asset in the valley, especially if there were creatures like the ones they just encountered that had ranged abilities.

"Nice shot," Senna called out to Kathryne, who had begun to jog over to where she was.

"Figured it was about time I saved your life for once, don't you think?" Kathryne replied jokingly as she arrived in front of Senna.

Her face turning serious, Kathryne looked down at Senna's arm. Concern started to play across Kathryne's face as she briefly examined the wound. "Maker's breath, that's a serious gash."

"It's nothing, really," Senna replied, trying to ignore the flares of pain in her arm. As she began to sheathe her sword, however, the shearing pain in her left forearm flared again with vengeance. Hissing gusts of pain-induced breath through her teeth, Senna looked down at her forearm to assess the damage while she sheathed her blade. Two large, bloody, gashes on her upper forearm running perpendicular to the rest of her arm were what greeted her eyes. Though it wasn't the worst injury she had experienced, Senna hoped that the cuts weren't too deep, or infected for that matter. It also left her with the dilemma of whether to use her magic or not. She knew one quick burst of Fast Heal would stop the bleeding and at least seal the wound up, but at the same time it might shake what little trust she had with her new companions.

Cassandra's voice tore the pair from examining Senna's bleeding wounds. "What's wrong?" the Seeker asked, her breathing still heavy from the exertion of the recent battle.

"Senna's injured. The demon that attacked us slashed her arm while she fought it off," Kathryne explained while Senna covered up the wound with her right hand, trying to apply some pressure to mitigate the bleeding. The pair of gashes screamed at the touch of the sharp, cold, metal against the raw flesh, but it was better than bleeding out.

Cassandra reached into a satchel on her belt and pulled out a flask with a green liquid inside of it. Pulling the cork out of the top, she handed the flask to Senna.

"Drink this, it will stop the bleeding."

Senna looked at the flask for a brief moment, contemplating its contents. _Looks like this is this world's version of a healing potion,_ she concluded. As she prepared to down the potion, she prayed it would taste somewhat better than the ones back home. As the liquid touched her tongue, Senna's face cringed with disgust at the horrible taste of the healing potion. _Definitely not better than home_. No matter how many times she had consumed them, Senna could never accustom herself to the taste of healing potions. Hence why she preferred the use of restoration magic, not mention it was much more efficient than potions.

When she looked at her wound again, the bleeding had stopped and the gashes had begun to form clots. The wounds would leave scars, there was no doubt about that, but at least the open tissue was sealed for now, preventing infection of the wound. Of course, that didn't mean Senna was still fuming in her mind about how that could have been prevented if she had been wearing her other gauntlet.

"Thank you," Senna said, trying to be gracious to her custodian.

"There will be more of those beasts further in the valley, you need to be more careful," Cassandra chastised, clearly not registering the graciousness of her charge.

Senna shot a glare in response to the Seekers haughty response. She had tried to make nice with Cassandra by offering an olive branch and she had thrown it back in Senna's face and spat on it. And that Senna would not abide.

"Maybe if you hadn't taken my gauntlet, this wouldn't have happened now would it?" Senna shot back, her voice seething with unabated hate as she crushed the flask in her armored right hand, glass fragments clattering as they hit the ice. "In fact," she continued, "if you had given me back my personal weapons, I could have slaughtered that monstrosity without breaking a sweat." It was no boast. There were only a few known blades that could match the cutting and striking power of a daedric sword. The strong, heavy, ebony metal, infused with the power of a daedra heart, resulted in a blade that could damage light armor and could deliver heavy strikes capable of leaving grievous wounds in even the mightiest of opponents. And she was curious to see if Dawnbreaker was as lethal against these creatures as it was against the undead.

The familiar hate and fury Cassandra had displayed back in the cell had returned and looked ready to be unleashed now that there was no Leliana to keep it in check.

"Why you ungrateful little..." Cassandra began to growl, but was cut off as Kathryne jumped in between the two hotheads, throwing an arm in front of each aggressor to keep them from mauling one another.

"We are in the middle of a valley infested with demons. We cannot afford to be at each other's throats," Kathryne said, her voice bleeding with authority and a hint of frustration. "You two trying to kill one another is not going to resolve anything or close the Breach. And last I checked, I thought we had all agreed to work together."

As much as she hated to admit it, Senna had to agree that Kathryne was right; this wasn't contributing at all to their goal of closing the Breach. And, for better or for worse, they had agreed to work together, personal feelings be damned. It didn't change how much she was becoming tired of Cassandra's attitude, but it was enough to remove the thickening red mist from her mind.

Letting out a sigh, Cassandra said, "You are right. We can't be antagonizing one another right now." Looking at Senna, she said, "You were trying to be gracious and I insulted you in response. A seasoned warrior like yourself deserves more respect than that. I apologize."

The sincerity in Cassandra's voice almost completely floored Senna. Until now, all she had seen from Cassandra was callousness and fury. But there had been hints there were softer emotions hidden under her hard exterior, especially when it came to Justinia. Seeing them now, however, made Cassandra look like a completely different person. It was almost disorienting for Senna as she tried to wrap around her mind the idea that the same person who only a short while ago was ready to summarily execute her was now sincerely apologizing to her.

Finally allowing the tension in her body to mostly subside, Senna nodded her head and said, "I accept your apology, Cassandra." She had wanted to add a 'thank you' at the end but had decided against it, not wanting to reopen freshly healed wounds.

Seeing that the conflict had subsided, Kathryne lowered her arms and relaxed, clearly relieved that another fight had been prevented.

"Now that we have that cleared up," Kathryne began, "we should continue moving into the valley. The sooner we get to the Breach, the better."

Now refocused on the task at hand, Cassandra nodded and motioned for Senna and Kathryne to follow her up the frozen lake to a nearby hill. As she and Kathryne fell in step behind Cassandra, Senna looked up at the mountains above them as well as the Breach. Though she wanted to admire the mountains and how much they reminded her of Skyrim, the nature of the Breach continued to gnaw at her. That creature she had fought had come from wherever the Breach led to, and Senna couldn't help but worry what _else_ could cross over into this world and if she would be ready to face that kind of unknown.

* * *

**As I said at the beginning, I am now in the market for a new beta reader. **

**I am looking for someone who has the following traits:**

**Imaginative**

**Motivated**

**Thinks outside the box**

**Positive**

**Energetic**

**Sound knowledge of both DA and TES universes.**

**In addition to proofreading, you will also be my soundboard for story ideas as well as holding me accountable for completing chapters.**

**This story is built on the foundation of trying elements that have not been used in DA/TES before as well as going against the grain of other stories in this category.**

**If you meet these requirements and share this vision, please PM me that you are interested as well as a brief explanation of why you are the right pick as well as how you would help make this story the best it can be. **

**As always, thank you for reading and I will try to have the next chapter out by late August.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Road to the Breach

**Howdy everyone! First, I want to apologize fo**r** the year-long hiatus. I kind of lost interest in writing for a little while and I needed to revise where I was taking this. Fortunately, I'm back on track and I have an amazing new Beta reader, ****LadyKuonji, who is an amazing soundboard for ideas and is outstanding at keeping me on track. ****Our goal is to have a new chapter posted on the 15th of every month around 6p.m. central time. **

**From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for your patience and continued support of this story, it really means a great deal. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Road to the Breach

A slow release of frigid breath left Kathryne's lips as she sent another arrow into the ghostly green, wraith at the far end of the lake. The arrow sang true and "pierced" the creature's chest, dissipating it from existence. _That's the last one, _she thought with relief. Her mind flashed back to how she barely dodged an energy blast from the first wraith in the pack of demons only a few minutes ago. While she took a quick count of the arrows remaining in her quiver, she spared a glance at the pair of shades Cassandra and Senna were engaging. As much she wanted to help, she had learned from earlier in their trek across the valley that her arrows weren't strong enough to deal significant damage to the large, shrouded, demons that they had encountered after the bridge. Cassandra had told them afterwards that the creatures were called shades. It was mainly for Senna's benefit, since Kathryne already knew what the creature was. But reading about it in a book and actually fighting one were two very different things. She had put nearly five arrows into one before realizing she wasn't wounding it enough, leaving Cassandra to deliver the final blow. After that, she decided to focus on the wraiths; they presented a ranged threat to both her melee companions. Not to mention they had proven significantly easier than the shades to kill.

As she finished her count, she began to frown. Twenty-four arrows proved to be the final tally. _If we keep running into resistance like this, I'll have an empty quiver before we're even halfway to the Breach,_ she mentally grumbled. Of course, this wasn't a skirmish in a forest with bandits on the coast or raiders who had crossed the border from Markham. Demons, as Kathryne was discovering, required a completely different set of tactics than what she had learned in the Ostwick rangers. Concealment, surprise, massed arrow volleys, these were what she was trained to do, not moving across an open battlefield and certainly not fighting demons.

Seeing the last shade fall, Kathryne took the opportunity to jog down the small hill she had camped out on overlooking the large lake they were in. As she rejoined Senna and Cassandra, she took a quick assessment of each of her companions. Neither seemed worse for wear, despite them being out of breath. Both had blood splatterd on their armor, though the deep black of Senna's demonic armor hid most of what had landed on it. A quick glance at her arm revealed that the gashes she had received earlier had more or less healed, though the scars still reflected how deep the wounds had been. Cassandra's shield bore several deep claw marks, all coming from repeated strikes from the shades. Despite the beating it was clearly taking, it still looked quite sturdy.

"Everyone all right?" Kathryne asked, even though she technically had already answered her own question.

"We're fine," Cassandra replied, after receiving an affirming nod from Senna.

The sound of men fight caught everyone's attention as they turned toward the source of the noise: the summit of the stone steps near where they were standing. Before anyone could say anything, Cassandra broke into a dead sprint toward the steps. _Don't need to tell me twice,_ Kathryne thought to herself as she and Senna took off after Cassandra. These had to be some of the soldiers Cassandra had told them earlier were scattered throughout the valley, and it didn't sound like they were winning against the demons.

"Hurry! We have to reach them before it's too late!" Cassandra shouted as the trio crested the hill.

Ahead lay what looked like a nest of jagged rocks with some sort of green rift in the center. Around it were several soldiers fighting desperately to stem the tide of demons pouring from the rift.

"How many troops were supposed to be here?" Kathryne asked, deeply disturbed at the situation and what they were about to throw themselves at.

"A small detachment. Twenty soldiers." Cassandra replied through shallow breaths.

"And if we don't hurry, what's left of them will be overrun."

After a brief sprint across flat terrain, the trio came across a drop that lead to the fight below. Cassandra and Senna were the first to leap down, brandishing their weapons as they raced toward the fight. Kathryne, after judging the distance between the cliff and the battle, jumped down as well, deciding that she was too far away to make an accurate shot. That, and the jagged edifices didn't give her a wide area to shoot at.

Landing on the hard, snow covered, rock at the bottom of the drop didn't do anything to stifle the brief shudder of pain that shot through Kathryne's legs as she landed. Deciding to move closer to the action so as to acquire a better target, she moved toward the mouth of the battlefield, arrow nocked and ready to be drawn. Fighting at close quarters alone was an archer's worst nightmare, but even more so was not being able to hit an enemy without hitting a friendly target. Such was the scene that lay before Kathryne as she determined where to strike first. She decided on a demon that was overwhelming a pair of soldiers to her left. Taking aim, she drew a short breath as she pulled back on the draw string and, exhaling, released it. The arrow embedded itself in the creature's back, causing the beast to roar in pain and rage. As she began to nock a new arrow, the creature turned around to face directly at her, lifeless eyes burning with fury. Before either soldier could move to attack the shade, the creature began to rapidly glide toward its new quarry, eager for payback.

Despite years of training and discipline, panic overtook the Ostwick noble as she hastily drew back the bow string partially and let loose a rather weak shot that barely embedded itself in its chest. Just as the demon was about to deliver an overhead slash at its prey, Kathryne dove forward and to the right of where she was standing, narrowly missing the attack. Inhaling shallow breaths, Kathryne quickly drew another arrow, this time giving the bowstring a fast, strong, draw. When the creature turned, Kathryne sent the arrow directly in between the creature's eyes. As luck would have it, the creature collapsed into a puddle of shadow and disintegrated.

The adrenaline that had flooded Kathryne's body moments ago slowly began to abate, leaving her feeling slightly drained from the brief dance of death with the shade. However, her recovery was interrupted when something heavy slammed into her back, sending her flying head first to the ground. Laboring for breath, she struggled to flip over on her pain-stricken spine, only to be met by the face of another shade, this one sporting some kind of rusted armor and a red plume on its back. Fear and panic once again gripped Kathryne, only this time there would be nowhere for her escape as the creature raised its right claw in preparation for the killing strike. Before the creature could deliver the fatal blow, however, it suddenly froze in place, slightly convulsing. The source of the spasm was revealed when a shimmering, violet sword shot out of the creature's abdomen before it was pulled up, partially bisecting the beast.

As the beast disintegrated, the mysterious sword's bearer was revealed to be Senna, face covered in sweat and blood. Now that she wasn't being threatened by a demon, Kathryne took a close look at the mysterious sword. In addition to its violet color, the sword was transparent, and looked to be almost shimmering. It took a slightly curved form and had what looked to be a small row of serrated teeth at its tip. Overall, it had a truly otherworldly appearance.

Dragging her mind out of the panic-induced haze it was still in, Kathryne grabbed Senna's outstretched hand and allowed the armored mage to pull her back up.

"You know for an archer, you sure love to get close to what you shoot at," Senna teased as she pulled Kathryne back onto her feet.

"Keeps things interesting. Can't hang back all the time now can I?" Kathryne retorted as she stabilized her footing. "You know," she started as she glanced down at the ethereal sword Senna still clutched in her right hand, "speaking of interesting, what is…"

"That," Senna interjected, "is a bound sword. Now let's go help the others."

Despite her crushed curiosity, Kathryne shook off Senna's blunt response as she jogged after her companion while slightly digging into the back of her lip with her right canine. The battle, however, seemed to be virtually over. As the few remaining shades fell, her eyes fell completely on the strange rift in front of her. It was the same sickly green color as the Breach itself, as well as the strange mark that she and Senna shared. A wave of intimidation flooded over her as she gazed at it, wondering how, or even if, she and Senna would be able to close it.

The jolting sensation of someone grabbing and pulling her left hand brought Kathryne out of her thoughts. She was startled to find a male elf in a green tunic pulling her toward the rift.

"Quickly!" The elf commanded. "Before more come through!"

Before she could say anything, the elf forcefully thrust Kathryne's hand at the rift. Instantly, Kathryne found her eyes filled with shock fear as the mark lit up with green energy as brightly as it did whenever the Breach expanded. As before, a jolt of pain shot through her hand. However, a sickly green beam of energy shot out at the unstable rift. The strange crystalline structure in the heart of the rift began to rapidly change shape before it just…vanished.

For a moment, no one said a word as everyone took in the magnitude of what just happened. There was hope now. There was a chance to end this before more lives were lost. Despite being left in shock, Kathryne let one sentence escape her words before she was left completely speechless.

"How did you do that?"

* * *

Even with the shock of the revelation that had just played out before them still hanging in the air, Senna's gaze now turned toward the bald elf who had thrust Kathryne's hand at the rift, causing it to, apparently, collapse and seal. His stance told her he seemed unfazed by the surprise and shock of everyone. His response echoed this as well.

"I did nothing," he replied simply. "The credit belongs to you."

Bald scalp aside, the elf was truly unlike any Senna had seen. His slender figure was certainly akin to the Bosmer of Valenwood, but his skin was fairly pale. Wood elves normally had skin shades that were mixes of brown and green, allowing them to blend in with their jungle homeland. He had slender, grey, eyes that seemed to both show and hide a deep intellect at the same time. Attire wise, he wore a simple green and white tunic and, for some strange reason, wore no footwear of any kind. Judging from the staff he carried on his back, Senna guessed he was a mage of some kind.

"So these things do more than just kill us after all," Senna commented, deciding to join the conversation.

The elf turned his head in Senna's direction to address her. Even though she knew very little about this elf, Senna felt a certain uneasiness when his eyes fell completely on her. The grey eyes seemed to hold both intelligent curiosity and a certain authority that demanded respect.

"Indeed." The elf responded. "Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed these marks on both of your hands."

The dragonborn glanced down at her exposed palm, examining the sickly green lines anew. "I theorized that marks on you and your companion could close the rifts left in the Breach's wake, though I was unsure whether each mark had different functions" the elf continued. "Thankfully, it seems I was correct in at least one regard. The two of you seem hold the key to our salvation."

_I wouldn't call me a savior just yet_, Senna thought morbidly as her mind returned to the real reason why Akatosh sent her to this strange world: saving and repairing this world's earth-bones. Even as she reflected on the divine mission the God of Time had set her on, Senna shared a glance with Kathryne. Etched on her fellow mark-bearer's face was a combination of fear and uncertainty that Senna knew all too well. It was the same set of emotions she herself had experienced when she learned about her heritage as dragonborn as well as her apparent destiny to fight and kill Alduin. And she would be lying to herself now if she said she wasn't experiencing those same feelings right now.

"Good to know. And her I thought we'd be ass-deep in demons forever."

Senna's attention, along with everyone else's, turned to the owner of the new voice to join the conversation. The voice's owner turned out to be a _very_ short man in a light brown, leather, duster that Senna had glanced at during the fight. While the man strode over to them in a rather easygoing manner, Senna took in the odd picture in front of her. Under the duster was what appeared to be a deep red vest only partially buttoned up, leaving a rather hairy chest exposed. His face was quite round and covered in peach fuzz, with his large nose being the most prominent feature. His brown hair was kept in a small, but neat, ponytail. He appeared to be quite stout, and had a surprisingly broad frame for someone his size. Given what she had seen during the battle, the dragonborn guessed that the device strapped to his back was some sort of crossbow.

"How do you do?" the man greeted. "Varric Tethras. Rogue, story-teller, and, occasionally," turning his head toward Cassandra, "unwanted tagalong." That last part was delivered with a teasing wink.

"A pleasure to meet you, Varric. I'm Kathryne."

"Likewise, I'm Senna." The dragonborn reciprocated.

Looking over Varric's shoulder, Senna added, "Nice looking crossbow, by the way."

Looking over his shoulder with pride, Varric responded, "Bianca? Yeah, she and I have been through a lot. She'll be a big help in the valley."

At that, a rather peeved Cassandra stormed over to Varric, clearly intent on stopping Varric's line of thought.

"Absolutely not! Your help has been welcome Varric…"

"Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker?" Varric shot back, annoyance painted all over his face. "Your soldiers aren't in control anymore." Leaning in closer, he added, "You need me."

The stare-off that ensued seemed it would last an eternity. _At the rate she's erupting at people, it's a small wonder the ice hasn't melted yet,_ Senna thought dryly. Fortunately, it only lasted a second as Cassandra yielded to Varric's reasoning with a disgusted grunt and a turn of the heel.

"My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions."

Senna turned back around to face the elven mage now that the drama between Cassandra and Varric had subsided, at least for the moment. He seemed to know quite a bit about the marks, yet for some reason it didn't give Senna any reassurance.

"I'm pleased to see that the two you are still alive," Solas finished.

Varric strode up to the trio, clearly intent on adding his two septims to the conversation. "He means 'I kept those things from killing both of you while you slept,'" the short man commented.

"You seem to know quite a bit about all this," Senna said, trying to show curiosity rather than suspicion.

"Like you, Solas is an apostate," Cassandra explained, "well versed in matters like these."

"Technically all mages are now apostates, Cassandra," Solas corrected.

_Apostate? That's an odd term to use. _The term bounced around in Senna's mind over and over as she tried to figure out the word's context. It seemed associated with mages, and, from the way Cassandra and Solas used it, it didn't sound flattering.

A puzzled look appeared on Solas' face as his focus turned once more to Senna. Senna cocked an eyebrow at him as the elf seemed to be studying her, grey eyes running over her like he had missed something and couldn't see it.

"Cassandra," he said without taking his eyes off of Senna, "You called this woman an apostate. Yet I sensed no connection to the Fade from her, nor do I now."

"She used some sort of transfiguration spell to escape her binds," the Seeker explained.

The look on Solas' face changed from one of confusion to one of curiosity in light of Cassandra's revelation. The expression soon faded however, as he turned his focus toward Cassandra.

"You should know: the magic involved here is unlike any I have seen." Solas began. "I find it difficult to believe anyone could possess such power, mage or not."

"Understood," Cassandra wearily replied, her response laden with repressed frustration. Turning to the rest of the group, she said, "We should continue toward the forward camp."

"I'll scout ahead and see what we're up against," Kathryne added, clearly eager to get on the move.

Before anyone could say anything, the archer leaped over a ruined wall and started further down into the valley. Cassandra let out a sigh of resignation, clearly not content with letting either of her charges out of her sight. Solas and Varric followed suit as they climbed over the wall. Right as Senna was about to make climb over the rubble, she felt the familiar iron grip of Cassandra's hand on her upper left arm.

"Don't think I didn't see that spell you cast earlier." Cassandra growled in the dragonborn's ear.

Senna wordlessly shook her arm free after shooting a glare over her shoulder. As far as she was concerned, Cassandra had to be more paranoid than Pelagius III, Tamriel's most notorious, and homicidally insane, emperor from the Third Era. Senna understood that she, herself, was one giant unknown made of several unknowns, but that didn't mean Cassandra had to pounce every time something bizarre happened.

After climbing over the wall, the two warriors quickly caught up with the rest of the group further down the steep path. Kathryne was kneeling over by the edge of the path while Varric was standing around idle with "Bianca" cradled in his arms. Solas just looked restless and bored, clearly eager to move on. Ahead lay yet another frozen lake, with what looked like a burning fishing hut on the other side along with a set of stone stairs leading further up into the mountains. As she took it all, Senna couldn't help but draw similarities to the vale where the snow elf temple of Auri-El resided. Even though much of Skyrim was frozen, the vale had been one of the most unique regions in Skyrim that Senna had explored; how it so quickly changed from grasslands to frozen mountains and valleys made it a truly one of a kind location, not to mention the exotic wildlife it housed.

The black-haired archer turned her head toward the newly arrived pair, slowly standing up as Senna and Cassandra approached. A small smile was painted on Kathryne's face when the two warriors finally came up to her. Senna took it as an indicator that they might have finally caught a break.

"Looks like we got lucky," Kathryne reported, confirming Senna's thoughts. "There's nothing out on the lake, so we have a nice walk to the camp."

Senna peripherally watched Cassandra let out a sigh of relief. "Maybe Leliana did make it through all this after all." Since leaving the prison, Senna had noticed how Cassandra and Leliana seemed to know each other quite well. She didn't know how long the two had worked together, but she made a mental note to ask later. _Among other things,_ she mentally added.

"She's resourceful, Seeker." Varric chimed "I'm sure she made through this without breaking a sweat."

With that, the group started down the small slope on the right-hand side of the outcropping they were standing on. To everyone's relief, the iced-over lake wasn't slippery at all, which made crossing that much less of a chore. Senna was especially relieved that there weren't any aquatic dragons popping out of the frozen lake like the ones back in the vale. That had been one of the most nerve-racking fights she had ever been in, especially since one of them had almost eaten her. Cassandra and Solas had taken the lead of the group while Senna and Kathryne had fallen to the rear of the group. Varric decided to walk with the two marked women, clearly intent on chatting.

"So, Kat," he started, "if you don't mind my saying, but you sound like you're from the Free Marches. One of the eastern cities, right?"

"That's impressive," Kathryne responded, clearly impressed by Varric's cultural knowledge. "And your right. I'm from Ostwick. What about you? Are you from Orzamarr?"

A small grin formed on the short man's face in response to Kathryne's appreciation of his talent. "Nope. Born and raised in Kirkwall."

Adjusting his head so that he could see Senna, he said, "Now as for you, Pointy, you're a bit of a mystery. I want say…Rivain?"

"Southern High Rock, actually," Senna responded out of habit. Even without everyone suddenly stopping and staring at her, Senna had already realized the huge blunder she had just committed. Despite the Thalmor hunting for her, Senna had grown comfortable speaking about where she was from during her time in Skyrim. It was common knowledge that the Bretons were among the most adventurous of races in Tamriel, so seeing the occasional Breton passing through never raised any eyebrows. And Skyrim was massive; so much that the chance of a Thalmor justicar death party finding her had proven slim. And now that complacency had come back to bite her in the most unlikely of ways.

"Uhh, you're from _where_ now?" Varric asked, voicing the question everyone else was asking with their blank stares.

_Oh boy, how do I get myself into these messes, _the dragonborn internally groaned as she sharply inhaled, trying to decide the best way to handle her slip-up. Obviously, there wasn't enough time to explain every last detail since there was a massive rift that needed to be sealed. That, and she'd be painting herself as some sort of mad woman, especially with everyone on edge right now. Lying wouldn't help either, since Cassandra was already scrutinizing her like a hawk, and the last thing Senna needed was everyone turning on her. Delaying, it seemed, was her only practical option.

"Look," Senna began, "it's a long story. If we make it out of this alive, I'll explain what I can."

"It's a fair offer," Kathryne interjected, coming to the defense of her companion, "and we can't afford infighting right now."

The look Kathryne gave Cassandra read very clearly to Senna as "You know I'm right, just admit it." Cassandra easily relented at that, clearly realizing she wasn't going to get around Kathryne's reasoning or silver tongue any time soon. Solas nodded in agreement, probably more or less out of impatience. Varric and Kathryne, oddly enough, had sparkles of curiosity in their eyes, especially Varric.

The next several minutes passed in relative silence as the group reached the set of stone steps on the opposite side of the lake. As they ascended the snow-covered steps, they came across a grim sight: several burning picket barricades as well as tattered banners with the sun sigil that Senna had seen back in Haven, not to mention the tattered corpses of the soldiers who had manned the barricades. The dragonborn grimaced at the sight, as the smell of burning wood and dead bodies filled her nostrils. She hoped this wasn't a premise for what they'd find at the forward camp.

As they neared the crest of the hill, the familiar visage of a shade came into view. Before anyone could say anything, Solas slammed the butt of his staff into the ground, causing the creature to become instantly encased in ice. The breeze of an arrow flew past Senna's check as it embedded itself in the ice, exploding not a second later. Senna turned her head to the arrow's source to find that it was none other than Varric, his crossbow "Bianca" still leveled at where the shade had been a moment ago.

"A little present from the Merchant's Guild," the short man said with a smirk.

_I_ _bet Sorine would kill to get a look at this crossbow,_ Senna thought briefly before she turned her eyes back toward the top of the path where the shade had come from. Cassandra, being at the front of the group already, was the first to reach the top. She then promptly came to a halt, which puzzled the dragonborn until she crested the hill and found out why. Three wraiths, who had emerged from the nearby rift, were lobbing bolt after bolt at Cassandra, effectively pinning her in place.

With the wraiths focused on Cassandra, Senna summoned a dark sphere in her left hand which, in a flash, transformed into a bound bow. Having seen just how deadly a bound sword was against the shades, Senna was curious to see how potent the rest of her ethereal arsenal was against these "demons." At this close of distance, not much aiming was really needed as Senna drew back the weightless draw string and sent a bound arrow straight into the wraith on the far right. To the dragonborn's satisfaction, the arrow caused the creature to dissipate instantly. As she nocked another arrow, it became clear that the other wraiths realized how much of a threat Senna really was and began to redirect their attacks against her. To her credit, Cassandra kept herself between Senna and the wraiths, using her shield to deflect the bolts. Senna released a second arrow, this time at the middle wraith. Before she could hit the final one, a pair of arrows flew into its chest. As the final wraith dissipated, the rift began to destabilize, much like the first one.

"The rift! We must seal it!" Solas exclaimed.

Senna dispelled her bow as the familiar tingling sensation from the mark returned to her hand as she neared the rift. For a split second, Senna wondered if her mark would work like Kathryne's. What if it worked the opposite way, or did something else entirely? The dragonborn pushed the doubt from her mind and threw her hand up, causing a stream of energy to strike the rift. Like before, the rift fluctuated before vanishing in a small explosion.

"Looks like mine works also," Senna announced, still flexing her tingling hand in and out of a fist.

"It appears I was correct again," Solas replied. "Though, I must say, that bow you summoned was unlike anything I've ever seen. What kind of magic is that?"

"Stick around long enough and you'll find I'm full surprises," Senna responded mirthfully, shifting her gaze to Cassandra halfway through her statement. Much to the dragonborn's surprise, Cassandra just let the comment role off her shoulders and kept walking to the nearby gate.

As she began to make her own way toward the wooden gatehouse, Senna felt a nudge on her right arm. Kathryne had fallen in step next to her, a bemused smirk on her face. Senna couldn't help but wonder what the typically neutral faced archer was up to. That was in addition to her wondering if revealing her magic had been a good decision. She quickly pushed that line of thought from her mind. Necessity had pushed her to do it; the sword she was using had been knocked from her hand at the first rift and she needed to defend herself, not to mention Kathryne had almost been mauled to death. She figured as long as she didn't have to use a Shout, she could keep the already mounting suspicion about her to a minimum.

"So, when were you going to tell me you know how to shoot?" the Free Marcher teased.

"Trust me, I'm really about average," Senna replied somewhat dismissively. "Besides, I prefer big targets that are impossible to miss."

"Whatever you say," Kathryne said whimsically.

The pair fell into relative silence as they passed through the fortified, wooden gate. Ahead lay yet another stone bridge, covered from end-to-end with soldiers, crates, barrels, and weapon racks. It was the kind of organized chaos one would find in a forward camp. As they moved along the bridge, Senna noticed that most of the soldiers were staring at her. Some shooting glares, while others became unnerved as she passed. The fear she could understand, since the very sight of daedric armor gave off a demonic visage even the most hardened of Skyrim's bandits couldn't ignore. But the glares, the hate, that was something she both understood and yet didn't understand at the same time.

But it wasn't the stares that were garnering her attention. Rather, it was the increasingly audible, as well as volatile, argument between Leliana and a slim man bent over a table. The man wore a white tunic with red sun rays rising from the bottom of the tunic and a black cap with a similar design, only in gold instead of red. Closer examination of his face showed a thin, black, beard and accompanying mustache. Overall, he had the appearance of being someone important.

Leliana, who as standing on the right-hand side of the table, turned her hooded face toward the approaching group with a semi-flustered expression on her face. The lavender-shrouded woman seemed to be on her last nerve as she tried to compose herself for the arriving party.

"Thank the Maker you made it." She greeted with as much relief as she could muster. "Chancellor Rodrick," Leliana began without looking at the man, "this is…"

"I know who _they _are," the man interrupted with as much spite as venom. The glare Rodrick was shooting at Senna, as well as Kathryne, was filled with as much hate as his voice. Already on edge from fighting across an entire valley, as well as being in a completely new world filled with a staggering number of unknowns, Senna was not in the mood to make nice with yet another bigot. The dragonborn started clenching and unclenching her gauntleted hand in a rippling motion, hoping the 'Chancellor' would notice the clawed gauntlet.

Erecting to his full height, which wasn't at all impressive or imposing, Rodrick puffed himself up to emphasize his apparent importance in the throng of people. Every second she was around him, Senna's opinion of this man was plummeting by the minute. In fact, she didn't even understand why they were meeting with this person at all. Of course, her mental gears shifted almost instantly shifted from irritation to outright fury following Rodrick's next proclamation.

"As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you," his commanding voice, and finger, directed at Cassandra, "to take these criminals to Val Royeaux to face execution immediately."

* * *

Kathryne was absolutely floored. Not out of horror, but out of amazement at the absolute _stupidity_ of what she just heard come out of Grand Chancellor Rodrick's mouth. In fact, the Free March noble would have been voicing just that if she wasn't preoccupied with monitoring Senna's increasingly volatile demeanor. She knew Senna commanded a strange form of magic as well as that shouting power she had now seen, or she thought she had seen, twice. And who knew what else the black-armored woman was capable of.

Surprisingly, Cassandra came to their defense as she strode up to the Chancellor, clearly just as peeved as Senna was.

"You _order _ME?" Cassandra barked back. "You are glorified clerk. A bureaucrat!" That last part was spat out with finality. Clearly Cassandra had no tolerance toward political branch of the Chantry, of which the Chancellor was clearly a part of. Kathryne grimaced as she didn't know whether to be relieved that Cassandra had stood up to Rodrick on their behalf or nervous that there were now two hotheads shooting death-glares at the scrawny chancellor. Kathryne stole a glance at Leliana, who returned the glance in kind. Despite the shrouded woman's neutral expression, Kathryne could tell that she was experiencing the same level of worry the Free Marcher was.

"And _you _are a thug, but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry." Rodrick spat back, voice laced with venom and contempt.

At that moment, a rather annoyed Leliana rejoined the conversation-turned-argument. "We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor. As you well know."

"Justinia is dead!" Rodrick exclaimed in exasperation, throwing up his hands in frustration. "We need to elect a replacement and follow her orders on the matter."

"Are you SERIOUS?!"

Everyone's eyes turned toward Kathryne, with Leliana showing a look of surprise on her face at the Ostwick noble's exclamation. Try as she might, Kathryne's last nerve had snapped in the face of the absolute idiocy before her. Rodrick was about to retort, but Kathryne was not about to let the pompous clerk utter anymore madness. She slammed her hands on the table, eyes burning with as much frustration as incredulousness. "There are DEMONS literally _raining _from the sky and your concern right now is who the next Divine will be?! Unbelievable!" Of all the ridiculous things she had heard in her life, which was quite a bit considering how well-connected her family was with the Chantry, this truly took the cake. There was no way even Kathryne was going to remain calm in the face of this kind of stupidity.

The Chancellor, clearly defeated, bent himself back over the table with head hung low as he let out a defeated sigh. "What's the use." He practically whispered as he continued to wallow. As satisfying as it was to have put the pompous clerk in his place, Kathryne hoped that he'd finally be able to see reason and talk actual strategy.

"There's no hope anyway." Looking up at the group, the haughtiness of earlier long gone from his face, he announced sullenly to Cassandra, "Call a retreat, Seeker. Before more lives are lost."

Kathryne turned her head toward Cassandra, hoping she could convince the now-despondent Chancellor that there was, in fact, still hope. She knew she wouldn't be able to, not after the verbal thrashing she just gave him. _He probably thinks Senna and I are responsible for this anyway,_ she thought. The Seeker's eyes were filled with determination, clearly not about to call a retreat when there was still hope, not matter how slim.

"We can still end this before it's too late. The prisoners' marks can close the Breach."

"Even if they can, you'll never make it past the horde between here and the temple."

Cassandra, true to form, was not about to back down. "We have to push through the valley. It's the most direct route to the temple."

For Kathryne, a pitched battle was the _last _thing she wanted to get involved in. She liked sparse engagements where the flow of battle could be easily controlled. The very thought of a large scale engagement made her feel claustrophobic, not to mention powerless to control her own destiny. Pursing her lips, she looked over at Senna to get a feel of what her companion was thinking. The auburn-maned woman's face was grim, but no sign of nervousness regarding Cassandra's proposal. Kathryne had a feeling Senna had fought in her fair share of battles, so this wouldn't be any different for her.

"True, but it isn't the safest option either," Leliana interjected. Kathryne pushed herself off the table, curious to see what the shrouded woman had in mind. _Hopefully it involves something other than a head-on charge against a demon horde,_ she thought.

Leliana turned her head toward the vast mountain ranges ahead of them and pointed at it. "Our forces can distract the bulk of the horde in the valley while you go through the mountains and infiltrate the temple."

"We lost an entire scouting party on that route. It's too risky," Cassandra objected.

While Cassandra and Leliana were debating, Kathryne had slid back over to Senna to get her thoughts on the matter. Kathryne hoped that if the two of them could agree on how to reach the temple, they could break the deadlock between their handlers. The Ostwick noble could tell Senna was having as much of an internal debate as she was.

"What do you think?" Kathryne asked.

"Honestly, there's a lot of unknowns no matter what we do," Senna replied. "The number of those things still in the valley, how many soldiers we have left, and not to mention whether those scouts are even still alive."

Senna's thoughts echoed Kathryne's when it came to a direct assault on the temple. Whether they had the numbers to even _reach _the temple, let alone deal with whatever might be in the ruins was very much up in the air. And there was whether the mountain path itself was infested with demons or not. What she hadn't considered, though, was whether the scouts were alive and, therefore, worth saving.

"True. Though, if we die, then there's no way to seal the Breach. I'd prefer our odds with the mountains."

Senna nodded in agreement. "Agreed. And if we have a chance to save the scouts we should take it. I don't like leaving people to die if there's an opportunity to save them."

At that moment, Kathryne felt several pairs of eyes fixed her and Senna. She turned around to face Cassandra and Leliana, who had apparently stopped their arguing to watch her and Senna.

"The two of you have an opinion on how we should proceed?" Cassandra asked bluntly, clearly not interested in beating around the bush.

Kathryne turned her head toward Senna to confirm they were in agreement. Senna nodded and Kathryne reciprocated the movement. She turned back to Cassandra, ready to deliver their agreed upon decision.

"We believe the mountain path gives us the best chance to reach the temple alive."

Leliana gave a subtle nod of approval while Cassandra let out a sigh in resignation. Kathryne was just glad Cassandra knew when to fold her cards rather than fight a losing battle. There was too much tension in the air already and the last thing Kathryne wanted was for nerves to snap.

Recomposing herself, Cassandra turned to Leliana and said, "Bring everyone left in the valley. Everyone." The shrouded woman nodded in acknowledgement as the group took its que to start heading out. Kathryne grabbed a bundle of arrows from a nearby crate and stuffed them into her quiver, glad to finally have a full quiver of arrows again.

As she looked up at the path ahead of them, or rather the peaks of the Frostback Mountains, Kathryne couldn't help but feel intimidated at how steep the path was. For a moment, she considered the direct assault in the valley as the better option. She shook her head, banishing the hesitation from her mind. This was the best option. She and Senna had to reach the temple alive or there was going to be no way to seal the Breach.

* * *

**And that's it for this month's installment. Again, HUGE shoutout to ****LadyKuonji for being such an amazing Beta. Please feel free to leave reviews and I will see y'all next month with Chapter 6. **


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